


Trigger Warning

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lots of dialogue, M/M, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn b/c what's not to like about that, Trains and Robin, Unhealthy Amount of Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 14:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 81,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2313077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy's bored and readjusting. Jason's bored and working. Thalia's bored and nosy, and Annabeth's bored and interested. Helpful girlfriends are helpful, and know more than they let on.</p><p>(All in all, everyone's pretty bored.)</p><p> </p><p>[UPDATE: WILL BE TAKING THIS FIC DOWN ON APRIL 30TH 2017]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Personification of Punk Rock

**Author's Note:**

> Update 9/29/15: It's been a year since I wrote this story and there are some things that I've now recognized to be problematic, and I think I have the responsibility to warn/apologize for those things. Percy faces a lot of self-inflicted emotional harm as a result of his trauma, and I haven't done justice to what these kinds of situations entail. Though I hate it, I've somehow subconsciously reinforced the idea that 'love is the answer to healing' and I want to point out that it isn't, and doesn't have to be, and that these kinds of ideas can actually hinder the healing process. Percy and Jason's back-and-forth treatment of each other can also be considered unhealthy, especially for a new relationship, and I want to apologize if it came across that way to anyone. 
> 
> I don't have the time, nor the energy, to change or edit this story, but I want to keep it up as a starting point for myself. I do love writing, and want to continue writing in the future, and I hope to create work that is better and more learned and introspective.

**I**

**The Personification of Punk Rock**

 

“Stop.”

The black haired boy did as ordered, folding his hands behind his head and spreading his legs shoulder width apart for the third time. The pat down was much shorter (thank the gods) but every moment felt stretched out into an hour when he was so close to freedom.

“I can’t believe they let you keep that,” The patter pointed to the blue streak in the boy’s hair. The boy shrugged. “He’s all good,” the faceless officer nodded to his escorts, who gave the juvenile a nudge to keep moving.

When he got to last room before the exit to the facility, they handed him a bag of things he barely remembered he ever owned.

“Check to see if it’s all there.”

Obediently, the green haired boy dug around in the bag. Cell phone, iPod, a pen, some random business cards, a gum wrapper. His hands closed around a familiar box, and he actually looked inside to see if it was actually what he thought it was.

“You left my smokes?”

“You’re legal now,” The guard shrugged. “We leave it to the mothers to handle that sort of thing.”

The boy hummed, dropping the half empty pack back into the bag and slinging the strap onto one shoulder. “That’s everything.”

“Alright,” The other escort stopped him for the last time right in front of the door, reviewing the list on his clipboard. “You know how this is supposed to go. You’ll have the tracker,” He motioned to the bulk on his ankle, “for a year. Which means you get a max of a mile out of the city, okay?”

“Okay.”

“The officer will drive you to the apartment you’ll be living in for an indefinite period of time. Most of your belongings have been moved there already. Your handler will visit you twice a month to see how everything’s going.”

“Got it.”

“And,” He paused. “You’ve been offered your old part time job back.” The boy hadn’t expected that. “Which you will need to be able to support yourself. Lastly, you’ve been signed up for a support group.”

His blank expression faltered. “A support group?”

“It is completely optional.” The officer added. “You have the choice of how many times to go, if at all. But, Percy,” He looked up from the paper. “It wouldn’t hurt.”

“Thanks, Officer Blofis,” Percy replied. “But for now, I think I just want to get out of these two years unwashed clothes.”

Both escorts cracked a smile at that. “Take care of yourself, you hear?” Blofis held the door open for the boy as he stepped out into the hot desert.

He put his hands up behind his head again, taking slow and precise steps to the prison gate. The four officers on guard watched him with keen eyes until he made it, then locked the door behind him. The taxi was already outside.

Percy got in and thanked mankind for inventing air conditioning.

“Percy Jackson?” The driver grunted, glaring at the boy through the rearview mirror.

“That’s me.”

“Hmm,” He made a noise of acknowledgement before starting up the car and rolling down the road.

Percy was glad he didn’t have to hold a conversation with anyone else for now. The morning had already been so taxing, what with the lenient sentence almost barely passing and than all the surprise tests they’d pulled on him throughout the day.

The sun was already setting when he had left and had just barely dipped below the horizon when they made it to the temporary housing lodge.

“Do I pay you?”

The driver shook his head once before speeding off just as Percy closed the door. How he had missed the special hospitality of his home city.

The Lodge (as he would soon grow to call it) looked like some giant, boring old library, except with a freakton of windows dotting the sides. The stairs leading to the entrance were enough to get the climber panting, and the ones that awaited the residents inside were just terrifying. Or maybe he had just gotten out of shape after so long.

The girl waiting for him at the front desk didn’t seem too friendly, what with her disdainful expression and stiff posture, but she approached him first. He took that as a good sign.

“Perseus Jackson?”

“Percy. Hi,” He took her hand and gave it a firm shake.

“Your birthday is?”

“…August 18th,” He was confused for about two seconds before realizing she was probably checking if it was really him. “I just turned eighteen today.”

She blinked. “…Happy birthday.” He shrugged at her. She blinked again before continuing. “You’ll be staying in room 404, on the top floor. You’ll have a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and loft. All of your things were delivered this morning,” She handed him a set of keys. “The blue one’s for your room. Red is for the building’s main entrance, which is usually locked. Curfew’s at ten, though you can stay out later with the Ward’ permission.” She closed the file in her hands. “That’s everything, for now. Other information will be in your room already.”

“Thanks,” he nodded. “Quick question – are there any elevators here?”

She gave him an apologetic smile. “There’s one, though it’s currently out of order. Sorry,”

“It’s all good,” He waved, before beginning his trek up three flights of stairs.

He was positively dying by the time he had reached the halfway point on the third flight, panting and leaning on the wall for support. “Damn these smokers’ lungs,” He muttered to himself before finishing the journey.

He dizzily plopped down on the last step and put his head between his legs, struggling to steady his breathing. He really _was_ out of shape. He prayed that the elevator would be fixed soon, or he’d be sitting here a whole lot more often from now on.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He jumped at the feeling of a hand touching his shoulder, but couldn’t bring himself to look up. “Yeah,” He said, hoping the person would just walk away. He didn’t really want an audience for his lack of fitness. “Just catching my breath.”

There was a thump as the person sat down beside him. “Those stairs could kill.”

“Got that right,” Percy managed as his vision finally cleared. He sat back, leaning on his palms, and finally got a good look at the person sitting beside him. Short black hair with a blue streak down the front, a lip hoop, all black clothes and combat boots – the personification of punk rock.

He felt like he was looking at the girl version of himself.

Apparently she thought the same thing, because the first thing she said was, “Are you my long lost brother?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Sure.”

“I’m Thalia,” She nudged his arm with her fist in greeting. “Thalia Grace, room 402. You just came in today?”

“Yeah. Percy Jackson, 404.” He mirrored the action, and immediately knew he would like her.

She stood and brushed herself off before offering him a hand to get to his feet. “Well, Jackson. Think you can make it to your room alone?”

He sized up the fifteen feet between him and his destination. “Probably,” He shrugged.

“Then I’ll see you around,” She grinned, nudging him again before hopping down two steps at a time. He silently envied her energy.

When he got to his room, he immediately stripped out of his sweatshirt and sweatpants (that were _way_ too much for this deathly summer) and tossed them onto a ragged couch against the far wall along with the bag over his shoulder.

The room was actually better than he had expected. The walls were a reddish color that matched with the carpet and couch and just about _everything_ else that had come with the quarters. He had two ceiling to floor windows ( _fancy_ ) and no curtains. There was a file on he counter that he would probably have to go through later.

The empty space by the door was temporarily filled with stacks of boxes that contained the entirety of his belongings, but he didn’t want to dig into them right now.

He was relieved to walk through the bedroom door and find an enormous mattress waiting for him, and didn’t waste an instant leaping onto it and slipping into a coma-like slumber.

 

**_P_ **

 

He really shouldn’t have fallen asleep so soon because when he woke up, it was still dark in the really early morning. There was no light whatsoever in the room and he almost killed himself falling off the bed and trying to make it to the switch. What was this, some kind of prison-lag?”

The lights flick flick flickered on throughout the apartment, bathing everything in an eerie bluish glow. Better than yellow, he supposed.

He was so hot and sweaty and _dirty_ , gods, and now he finally had a bathroom to himself. He hadn’t really expected a the lack of a door, but eh. Inside was a cramped space they somehow managed to fill with a sink, a toilet, and a bathtub.

The water came out a sketchy color before clearing out into transparency he was comfortable with, and then only warmed up to about room temperature. It took him only three minutes to convince himself to get in. He briefly wondered if he was allowed to get the ugly anklet wet before deciding he really didn’t care.

“The _scoundrels_ ,” He muttered upon finding the tub completely devoid of any hygiene products whatsoever. And he hadn’t cared enough to grab a towel out of his stuff, either – he was a mess. The room wasn’t too cold, so the commando trip to the unpacked boxes didn’t really affect him.

He dug around the nicest looking one with the most tape and found most of his basic domestic supplies dumped in. He just hoped none of the mugs or anything else was broken.

He hustled back to the running shower with a shampoo bottle, a bar of soap, and a fluffy blue towel that could _probably_ double as a blanket. The water had cooled about three degrees in the two minutes he was gone, a revelation that sent him into a frenzy as he struggled to get completely clean before he froze.

He was relieved to get out of the stall and back into the dry world, but it was time for him to retrace his steps to the boxes and find which one had clean clothes. He tied the towel around his waist and dodged puddles to the stack.

The box holding his clothes had three layers of tape and looked like it had been torn up, searched through, and put back together multiple times. He rolled his eyes at the dramatic presentation before tearing through it the last time and watching it vomit piles of cloth in the center of the living room.

Between all the band shirts and superhero tees, he probably had one article of clothing that _wasn’t_ black. The epitome of a teen going through his rebellious stage. He sighed and cursed his sixteen year old self for the shitty wardrobe.

Only a couple things still fit him, and from those he pulled on underwear (clean), a pair of jeans (smelled clean), and a muscle tank (he honestly didn’t remember even buying that). He kicked the rest of the pile to one side, making a note to get to it later, and started in on the next box.

Pulling out the first mug made him rethink his decision to start unpacking _right this second_. Covered in a blue peppermint swirl, it read ‘ _IT’SUGAR! World’s Best Candy’_ , and smelled of his mom’s favorite (but utterly disgusting) black coffee. He set the mug back in the box and shut it. Yeah, he’d unpack later.

He thought about wandering around for a bit (why the hell weren’t there any curtains?) but the folder on the bar countertop called to him. He took a seat on the surprisingly comfy barstool and flipped it open.

_Percy Jackson. Birthdate: August 18 th. Parents/Guardians…_

Things he already knew. He flipped forwards a couple pages to find something useful to him, like how to get hot water in the shower.

_Routine apartment checks once a month. Dorm Rules: No smoking. No drinking (unless of appropriate age). No drugs of any kind unless prescribed._

He reread them a couple of times. They weren’t as oppressive as some might have thought – he actually appreciated the drinking part – and lord knows he’d had enough alcohol around him for one lifetime.

After the rules came a few other pieces of basic information, like how after the first year of residency he’d have to start paying rent (not that he was even going to _be here_ then) and how he might want to keep a close eye on his things during his stay (he guessed that to be an allusion to the number of kleptomaniacs staying at the building).

He flipped the folder shut and pulled his cell phone from the bag on the couch, thankful there was still an ounce of battery in the thing. 5:43. Was he allowed to leave his room? There was a curfew, but were there limits to exits as well? And even if there was, would anyone even be up at this hour to enforce it?

He pulled on a jacket, grabbed his keys and skateboard, and locked the door behind him.

As expected, it was dead silent at this time of morning except for the birds he could hear chirping the night away. The elevator was still broken so he settled for the stairs, whistling quietly as he skipped his steps. He was probably just having an off day yesterday or something, because those stairs didn’t take _anything_ out of him today.

“Good morning,” He almost missed that last step at the sudden greeting, but just barely caught himself. The blonde from the day before smiled from behind her desk. “You don’t seem the morning type.”

He shrugged, making his way over to her. “I’m not.” Then he frowned. “I didn’t get your name yesterday, sorry,”

“Oh! Right,” She seemed much more open today, and he briefly wondered if yesterday was just an off day for everyone. She held out a hand for him to shake. “Annabeth Chase. I’m the main secretary here. You can come to me for any questions you might have.”

“Thanks, Chase.” He shook it and glanced at the doors. “Am I allowed to leave this early?”

“Yeah, as long as you’re back by curfew.” She glanced down at his ankle – so she _knew_ about his situation. “Are you allowed to leave?”

“The building, yes. The city, no.”

She nodded and sat back down. “Well then. Enjoy your time,” She smiled again before returning to whatever she was working on.

He was tempted to comment about how she looked a little too young to be working a full time job, but decided that would be beyond creepy this early in their limited relationship. “Later, then.” He waved and headed out the door.

The sun was already peeking out from behind the clouds, warming up the outside world and coaxing office workers out of their respective homes. He wasn’t sure if _Olympus_ would have any customers at this time of day, but it was best to come in as soon as he could for that interview.

 


	2. The Girlfriend with Good Taste

**II**

**The Girlfriend with Good Taste**

 

It took him a little longer than he thought it would to get around the city. A lot had changed in two years – the subway went further now, the streets were more clogged, and the number of skyscrapers allowed on one block had almost doubled. A skateboard would barely get him places on time.

The _Olympus_ Bar and Night Café sat in the back corner of a hotel lobby, with its main entrance tucked in the snug space between two shady alleys. Despite the sketchy location the customers were almost always upper class, rich males, with the occasional daring woman. The tips alone would be enough to sustain Percy a decent living.

As he expected, it was completely empty when he entered, except for one bartender cleaning a glass and a waiter lounging in the seat across from him. They recognized him before he did them, and he found himself tackled by a blonde whose face he hadn’t completely registered yet.

“Percy, you little blue haired brat!”

But the voice hadn’t changed in two years, thank the gods. “Leo, hey,” He un-stiffened to return the embrace and smiled at tender, who set down the glass and reached over the counter for a half hug. “Beckendorf. What are the two of you doing here? Don’t you have college?”

“Night classes,” They chorused. “I’m almost finished with undergrad,” The younger of the two added proudly.

“That’s good,” Percy propped his transportation against a wall and slid himself onto the barstool across from Beckendorf. “I heard Artemis might let me keep the job?”

“Surprisingly,” The bartender shrugged, using the towel over his shoulder to wipe the spotless surface. “You also know how the job’s done, so it saves the trouble of having to train a newbie and waste more time.”

“How have you managed it up till now?”

“Easy. We closed at night.”

Percy almost choked on air. “And she was _okay_ with that?”

“She was pissed beyond belief,” Leo assured, “But she was dead set on getting you back the instant you got out.”

“Well. I’m here now.”

“And your shift starts in twelve hours,” Beckendorf glanced at the clock above Percy’s head. “Seven o’clock on the dot. What are you doing here so early, anyway?”

“I have prison lag,” He watched Leo yawn beside him. “You sure those night classes are a good idea?”

“The professors are better,” Leo hummed. “And it’s not like we haven’t spent more time awake. At least now I’m getting eight hours of sleep a day.”

“That _is_ a plus side.”

Silence, before Beckendorf finally breached the main topic. “So. They just let you out? Just like that?”

Percy shook his head and tapped his left leg. “I’ve got a tracker on me for a year, to make sure I stay within city limits. After that, I’m back in for a psych check, and _then_ I’m out.”

“So you’re stuck?”

“Not exactly,” Percy thought for a second. “I mean, it’s better than living back _there_.”

“I should hope so,” Leo stood as the door opened for the first guest of the day.

 

**_P_ **

 

“So you smoke?”

He glanced over at the unexpected speaker, who leaned against the railing beside him. She looked like she wanted an answer to the painfully obvious question, so he removed the cigarette from between his lips to breathe a smoky ‘yeah’.

She shook her head. “ _So_ unattractive.”

“Don’t really care,” He replied, taking another drag. Gods, these two year old smokes were terrible. He couldn’t believe he used to like them.

“Oh, so cool, so mysterious,” She rolled her eyes, before pulling out one of his headphones and sticking it into her own ear. They stood in silence for a few seconds, listening to the indiscernible lyrics, before the simple chorus boomed. They hummed it in synchronization.

“I think my girlfriend likes this band,” She commented offhandedly.

“She has good taste.”

After a beat, “Percy, what are you doing today?”

“Nothing, yet. Except for the job.”

“That’s great,” She dug something out of her Warped sweatshirt (Percy approved) and dropped one of two tickets in his hand. “Wanna go see a concert?”

“For what band?”

“I don’t know what the name is,” She admitted. “It’s not on the ticket, but it’s the one she’s in. She wanted me to come watch.”

He was going to wonder out loud why he had never known Thalia’s girlfriend was in a band but a more important question came out first. “Wouldn’t you rather go with someone you actually know really well?”

The personification of punk rock put a hand on her hip. “No one seems as depressed as you do, Percy. But that’s nothing two hot lesbians can’t fix.” She held out a hand to him like he was a princess, tapping her foot impatiently. “You coming?”

He blew smoke in her face, she kicked him in the shin, he dropped the stub on the ground and crushed it beneath his shoe, and _then_ he took her hand. “Okay, let’s go.”

Just like she assured him on the walk there, the music wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Like every punk rock concert, depressed rebellious singers screamed to depressed rebellious teenagers who came together to let out their depressed rebellious feelings. But it wasn’t too bad.

They only had to stick around outside the warehouse for an extra ten minutes before the band’s bassist stepped out in a tank top and shorts, probably having washed off her excessive makeup somewhere along the way.

Thalia slapped hands with the brunette. “Good show,”

“Thalia. Percy,” The tall brunette nodded to one of the few friends of her girlfriend whom she actually approved of.

“Reyna. You guys did great today,” He nodded, and she returned the gesture.

“So, are you ready to eat something? Because I am starving.” She led the way back to the Lodge, up to her own apartment (Percy could _totally_ take on these stairs), and offered her guests a spot on her couch.

“Do you live here, too?” Reyna asked, speaking more than three words to him for the first time since they met.

“I’m in the next room.” He winced at the sound of something clattering to the floor, worried, but judging by the musician’s lack of reaction it wasn’t anything to worry about. “What about you?”

“I moved out last year,” She replied. “Only had to stay for a couple of months, anyway.”

“Reyna used to be a kleptomaniac,” Thalia called from the kitchen. “Didn’t take long for the tendencies to fade.”

“That’s good,” He hummed.

The brunette pulled up her leg to lean her chin on and stared at him from her side of the couch. She seemed to be waiting for him to explain his side, but he kept his mouth shut as if he hadn’t noticed. Thalia soon broke the intense gaze with her sandwiches and soda.

“My beer got confiscated,” She explained to her girlfriend’s raised eyebrow. “For now, it’s non alcoholic drinks.”

“But aren’t you legal?” Percy opened the coke, drinking the foam before it could overflow onto his (limited) clothes.

“Sometimes, they just feel like being assholes.” She hopped onto Percy’s couch, jostling him and almost causing him to spill his drink all over his lap. She gave him a sheepish grin. “So, Percy has got himself a job after living here for only a month.”

Now _that_ seemed to get some sort of emotion out of the quieter girl, who only turned to him with a slightly surprised look. “Where do you work?”

“I’m just a bartender,” Percy replied, leaning over to snatch himself a sandwich. He could only hope that Thalia’s cooking skills were as great as she boasted. “Nothing special.”

“It’s better than working in fast food, let me tell you,” the older girl shuddered. “There is literally nothing redeeming about that industry.”

“But the pay is steady, right?” Reyna interjected. “Ours is kind of a gamble every time.”

“You don’t have to worry about rent though, right? Since you’re living on your campus now.”

“You go to college?” Percy hadn’t expected it. Something about this crowd always kept him at very low standards.

“Yeah, I’m on scholarship.”

He whistled. His couch mate laughed. “I know. Some people are just really good at what they do. I didn’t even know people could _get_ music scholarships.”

“Don’t look down on us.” She said it as a joke, but something about her just made Percy make a mental note to himself to not diss music in her presence. Not that he would otherwise.

“Are you going to go to college, Percy?” Thalia nudged him with her foot.

“Maybe.” He chewed and chewed and swallowed. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

They fell silent at that.

A few more scattered conversations and Reyna had to get back to her dorm for some reason or other, leaving him alone with the one person he knew in the building again.

Thalia crunched her second can and tossed it into the trash, then lay flat on the other couch. “Are you coming today?”

“To where?” He knew the answer even before she gave it, and briefly wondered why either of them bothered to ask questions they knew the answers to. (Maybe they were both intense masochists who wanted the cold hard truth constantly slapped in their faces.)

“Support group.”

“I can’t.”

“Gonna spend half an hour staring at running water again?” Sometimes he hated how perceptive she could be. “I share a wall with you, Percy. The shower runs for a long time, and I know you’re not in there for that long.”

“That’s not creepy and stalker-ish at all.”

“I’ve got better people to stalk,” She shot back. “You’re just going to keep on getting your ass back in here until you can never leave.”

“I don’t want to hear that coming from a two year resident.”

 _Ugh_ she could _murder_ him. “Someone needs to say it, Mr. two year felon.” Neither of them met each other’s eyes, too ashamed of their low blows. She took a deep breath. “It’s not that bad.” He checked his pocket absentmindedly. Cool, he still had one breather left. “And it could help you.”

“You’re sounding like one of them now.” He muttered.

“Maybe that’s because they’re right.”

 

**_P_ **

 

Just like Thalia said, an hour later Percy found himself standing outside of the newly curtained shower, staring at the water as it ran down the drain and wasted itself. His steady stream of thoughts kept hiccupping with every drop that managed to make contact with his bare skin, and the thudding of water was too loud.

He wrapped himself up in his dry towel and turned the shower off. _Later_ , he decided. _I’ll take one later._

He felt three sharp knocks through the door, a sign that Thalia was leaving for her ‘support group’ or whatever and that this was his last chance to come. Like always, he ignored it, knowing she’d leave after a couple of minutes.

He took the time that he had to wander around his apartment again. The clothes pile was gone, donated and replaced with new clothes that found their way into Percy’s closet. A few of the boxes were unpacked – an alarm clock, some dishes and cups, bed sheets and blankets, random lamps.

The boxes he couldn’t bring himself to unpack just yet were stacked on a three tier tower in the corner of his living room. Thalia had mentioned them once in the few times she had been in his room and at his silence, never again.

The phone rang on his counter top, startling him out of his thoughts. “Hello?”

_“Percy?”_

“Leo?” The boy sounded worried. Percy couldn’t stop his heart from switching into hyperactive mode. “What’s up?”

 _“Hey, we have an, uh,”_ There was some shuffling in the background. Someone spoke to him for a second, and then the waiter returned to the conversation. _“There’s an unexpectedly large crowd here tonight. I don’t think Beckendorf and I can hold down the fort alone.”_

Percy inaudibly sighed in relief. “That’s all?”

 _“Does that mean you can make it?”_ He sounded much brighter all of a sudden.

“Yeah, sure. Just give me, maybe forty minutes.”

 _“Dude, thank you. Thank you so much._ ”

“No problem.” He hung up and returned to the bathroom, turning on the water and glaring at it again.

Now he _had_ to take a shower, and quickly. Promises to other people were easier to keep than promises to himself. He hopped in, tried to go about the process as cleanly and efficiently as possible, and threw on his clothes while still wet.

Going to work on a day off was better than sitting at home wondering how a support group was going.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Yes, you’re here. He’s here!” Leo ushered his coworker in through the side entrance and thanked him profusely. “There’s an extra – oh, good, you’re already in uniform. So, Beckendorf’s gonna man the floor with me. Think you can handle the bar alone?”

Percy wasn’t even sure he understood half of that, but he nodded anyway and came in to his assigned post.

They really _did_ have a large crowd tonight. Unlike the usually low-key, quiet, and reserved atmosphere they usually had going, every seat was filled and people were on top of each other trying to fit into such a small space. He lost Leo to the crowd in moments.

When he was called over for a drink by a particularly sober man, he asked, “Is there some sort of party going on?”

The man took his screwdriver and turned in his seat. He didn’t seem to notice that his bartender had changed in race all of a sudden. “Tonight was the last night for a show.”

 _Oh_ , that explained everything.

Of course, here at the world’s most talented venue of theater, plays – _shows_ – were a huge thing. He vaguely remembered another night like this, the last time he’d worked here, when Book of Mormon was having an after party at the bar.

When he looked around at the crowd, he found all the characteristics one would associate with a stage actor, and it suddenly became clear to him why people were donning out-of-place-but-not-really-strange costumes.

“Do you know what show it was?”

Apparently half the bar heard him because a wall of people before him all turned around and harmonized, _“Rent!”_ , which apparently called for another round of complicated drinks Percy had to prepare and present quickly to impatient drunks.

When he had a second, Beckendorf took a break and leaned against an unoccupied space of bar counter. Percy glanced at the figure standing behind the waiter and almost laughed. “Looks like you’re really popular, Beckendorf.”

The African American rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his water, before returning to the hungry throngs of customers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. The Walking Social Disaster

**III**

**The Walking Social Disaster**

 

Warning: strong language, mentions of suicide.

 

The screech from his kitchen was enough to shock Percy right off his bed, sending him forehead first into the wooden floor. He hopped to his feet, rubbing the bright redness, and shuffled in to the rest of his apartment.

“Oh my god, oh my _god_!”

“What, what, what?” He yelled through the haze of sleep covering his vision. His heart beat three times faster than normal as he struggled himself to control his breathing—

An arm looped itself around his shoulder, a split second of warning before he was faced with a fierce noogie. “Dude, what the _hell_ are you doi—”

“I should’ve known!” Thalia sounded intensely proud as she shook Percy’s bare shoulders. All of his surprise and sleepiness had now been replaced with the purest form of irritation, and he glared at Thalia through his ungodly bed head. “I _should have known!_ ”

He sat himself down on a barstool while she pranced around his kitchen at what he thought to be way too early (but was, in actuality, only about noon). She laughed to herself a little longer before coming to a stop right in his face.

“You, Percy Jackson. I thought you were ditching group just to sulk but _no._ No, you were off, having a grand time, and—” She grabbed a white slip from the counter, “—picking up potential _relationships_! Percy, I had no i _dea_ you were so _popular_.” She paused, taking a look at his half naked self. “Though since you sleep shirtless, I can see where that is coming from.”

He frowned at the stained napkin she shoved under his nose before his vision focused on the black ink. A number he didn’t recognize was scrawled in fine print, but the name had been smudged out with vodka, or an equally foul smelling drink.

“Do you remember his name? I’m assuming it’s a guy cause this isn’t a chick’s handwriting.”

“You are talking too quickly and too loudly this early.” He groaned and put his head down, groaning even though he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol the night before. So of course, he remembered every single detail.

But she was too excited to let this go. “Percy, this is your chance to get back into the way _life happens_! And you kept his umber, didn’t you? So either he’s insanely hot, or you’re beginning to agree with me. Or maybe both.”

“Thalia, can we just. Just calm down.”

“I’ve already called Reyna.” Deep, deep groan. “She was actually really excited, too. She’s on her way.” Double groan. “I just gave her your number, by the way.” Meh, that fact wasn’t as groan-worthy as the rest. “What did you say his name was?”

“How did you get into my apartment?”

She rolled her eyes. “Percy, Percy. Have you seriously already forgotten the reason I’m stuck at the Lodge in the first place?”

He didn’t know she’d use her breaking and entering skills against him for such a stupid reason as to have a taste of his breakfast. “I’m guessing you came for pancakes, judging by the materials you got out but refused to touch.”

“Stop. Changing. The subject!” She emphasized each word with a slap on the counter. “This is amazing! We need to get you two together.”

“You don’t even know who it is.”

“But _you do_.” The door opened and shut, and then a third figure strolled into the room and seated herself beside the pajama clad boy. “Reyna! So glad you’re here.”

“I was told there was free food,” The brunette looked pointedly at the shirtless host, who grumbled but got up anyway, heading over to the counter full of stuff. Thalia took his spot and quickly filled in her better half with the details. “Have you called him?” She asked when the blue streaked girl had finished.

“No.”

“But more importantly, who is he?”

He’d hoped to distract Thalia with the smell of frying batter but apparently it was not meant to be. “There was an after party at the bar, and he was just one of the customers.”

Reyna, of all people, perked up immediately. “For _Rent_?”

Percy turned on the stove, finished with mixing batter. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Oh. My,” She mouthed, and even Thalia was shocked at the display of emotion. “You got to meet the off-Broadway cast of _Rent_?” She grabbed the napkin from her neighbor’s grasp and all but shoved it down Percy’s shirt, almost burning him in the process. “Call him. _Right now_.”

The black haired girl was quick to latch on to the excitement. “Yes! Yes! Call him right now.”

“ _Right now?_ Are you insane?” Percy dumped half the batter into the pan, which ought to give him enough time to talk some sense into the girls in his apartment. “It’s been almost nine hours since I kicked him and all his friends out of a bar.”

“Stop stalling.” Reyna turned on Percy’s phone (when had she even gotten her _hands_ on that) and wrapped his fingers around it. “Take initiative, Percy.”

“I think you two are insane.”

“But he thinks you’re _cute!_ ”

Percy was actually shocked at how intensely girly Thalia had become over the past ten minutes, though he hid it well. The four inch thick pancake fluffed up and he plopped it onto a big dish for the three of them to share. “Don’t you have class, or something?”

“It’s lunch time,” They sang, digging into the breakfast food anyway.

“Use forks, you _animals_ ,” He passed them said utensils.

“Put on a shirt, you _animal_ ,” Thalia replied in the same tone, before recanting the statement. “Actually, you look good like that. Just stay there.” The statement got no reaction from the girlfriend.

Reyna’s own eyes raked over Percy’s profile, noting light scars littering his torso. He didn’t seem to be overly sensitive about them, but neither she nor her girlfriend wanted to rick bringing them up right now. Who knew how those cuts formed in the first place?

“Look at this,” Reyna pulled up a set of pictures on her phone and showed the other two her screen. Pictures flew by on camera of people having a good time with drinks in dim lighting. She stopped the slideshow on a picture full of four women all posing around one awkward bartender. “You are so awkward.”

“I don’t need _you_ to tell me that,” He said around his food. “They made jokes about it all night.”

“Sounds like you had a good time.”

“I was _working_.”

She waved the napkin in his face. “Uh-huh.”

He snatched it out of her hand and watched as excitement tripled in her eyes, and felt it climb even higher when he shoved it in his pocket. “You should go,” He said, when they’d finished the pancake.

She checked her watch. “Okay, okay, just. Just give me the name. I need a name.”

“Would you even know who it was?” He walked the pair to the door.

“No, but I’m pretty sure Reyna can fill me in on the details of the person. Name name name, Percy.”

Percy leaned on the doorway, contemplating this decision. Reyna looked like she would scratch his eyes out if he didn’t tell her which actor he had just gotten acquainted with. He opened his mouth. Thalia leaned in. “…later.” He slammed the door in her face.

“PERCY MOTHERFUCKING JACKSON,” was all the girl managed to shout through the door before she ‘eep!’ed at the time and hurried down the steps, her girlfriend a short ways behind.

His phone buzzed with a text a moment later.

_I AM GOING TO BREAK INTO YOUR APARTMENT AND EAT ALL YOUR FOOD._

It was a plausible threat.

 

**_P_ **

****

He couldn’t bring himself to get into the shower today.

No matter how many times he muttered to himself about his unending cowardice, he could not bring himself to even touch it. He turned it off and on three times, each time spending the minutes trying to follow a droplet with his eyes. But as he already knew, this water flowed too quickly to do anything.

He tried to first stick his hand in and immediately recoiled. Was it just him, or did it feel burning hot? He remembered then that they didn’t get hot water on the top floor. He went out onto the balcony to open up the new pack of cigarettes he’d bought the day before.

“Disgusting,” He muttered. Smoking didn’t taste as good anymore. _Nothing_ tasted as good anymore. He could barely stop himself from vomiting up the pancakes he’d made the moment the girls had stepped out of his apartment. He stamped out the cigarette in a conveniently placed ashtray.

“Percy Jackson, get into the fucking bathtub,” He told himself, in what was a very ineffective pep talk. It would have been much easier if there wasn’t a tub, that was for sure. Just a shower would have been fine. But these thoughts caused him to turn the tap off the second time.

The third time, he just stared.

No amount of mental preparation could make him get into that shower. None, none, none. He turned it off easily and hung his towel up on the rack again. He looked through his closet for something passable to wear and cursed again.

One of the few things that still fit him were the swimming tights he’d gotten in freshman year, and he wasn’t about to waste those. Except, why would he need swimming clothes if he was so fucking afraid of the water?

 _You need help_ , Officer Blofis had said to him multiple times back then. _I know it’s your choice, but you really need it._

 _I_ know _I need help, that’s why I was in the ward for the criminally insane,_ he scoffed. If only he wasn’t such a cocky, messed up brat. If only he had listened to the police officer. If only he could get into the shower. ‘If only’ was one of the only phrases his brain seemed to recognize right now.

“Blue blue blue blue,” He muttered like a mantra. When in doubt, remember your favorite color. It’s supposed to calm you down – it’s your favorite for a reason.

He sighed in relief when he was shocked out of his thoughts by his ringtone.

 

****

**_P_ **

 

_“Are you coming?”_

He was honestly surprised that the first sentence out of her mouth wasn’t one with an abundant usage of ‘fuck’. “Coming where?”

A sigh. _“To group.”_

He sighed as well. He was so tired of making up excuses that he found himself saying, “Just give me a sec.”

Something, probably her purse, clattered to the ground on the other end of the line so loudly that he could hear it through the wall. A curse followed soon after.

“Everything alright?”

 _“Yeah, yeah. Of course,”_ She assured hurriedly. _“How long do you need?”_

He pulled on a long sleeved shirt, not caring enough to dry himself off. He grabbed his keys and locked the door behind him. “I’m outside.”

The line beeped dead. There was more clattering (Percy felt a little sorry for whatever poor soul there was living below her) and then she joined him in the hallway, dressed in surprisingly normal clothes. “Hey,” She breathed.

“Hey.”

They stared at each other for a minute.

“We should get going.”

“Yeah,” She nodded, then led the way down the stairs. For some reason he still hadn’t figured out, she always picked the stairs over the elevator. She threw periodic glances over her shoulder as if to make sure he was still there until they made it to the lobby and he could walk right beside her.

“Thalia, Percy.” He noticed the surprise in Annabeth Chase’s tone but said nothing. “Going to the support group?”

“Yeah,” Thalia waved before stepping out into the evening air. “It’s only an hour long, so you won’t be late for work.”

“That’s good.” They stuck to the sidewalk. The Facility (as it was publicly known) was only a couple of blocks away, and they were the only support group that met up on weeknights. He shuddered but forced himself to keep moving. He knew Thalia was watching him closely.

“What made you want to come today?”

The question shouldn’t have caught him off guard, but it did anyway. “I… I don’t know. Just felt like it today, I guess?” He shrugged.

“Do you know what the group’s for?”

“Kids with social problems, right?”

She shook her head, holding the door open for him. “Close, but not quite.”

And when the rest of them sat down in the circle he _knew._ Hallowed faces, each one a replica of himself, a thin husk of a person and scars scars scars scars scars _everywhere_. He couldn’t look away because each next spot was worse than the last and _why was he here._

“Hello everyone!” The person heading the meeting was much jollier than those around him (which was probably the reason why he was hired). “I see we have some new faces, so I’ll reintroduce myself. My name is Grover, and I’ll be leading this group. You can come to me at any time for anything.

“This is, as you all know, a suicide prevention support group. We’re all here for each other. Sometimes we’ll talk, and other times we’ll listen, and everything is important. No one’s going to laugh because we’ve all been through the same thing…”

As he trailed on, Percy felt his stomach churn. He covered his mouth with his hand and leaned forward, just a little bit, holding his breath and closing his eyes. Beside him, his escort put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. “Percy? You alright?” She whispered, but her tone gave way like she knew the answer.

“No,” His answer was muffled but his eyes gave it away. He didn’t hear her but she must have excused them because suddenly they were walking back outside and stopping on the steps and the outside air couldn’t come fast enough and he was trying to cough something into the bushes but nothing was coming—

“Breathe, Percy.” She had one hand on his wrist and the other on his back, like a trained professional. He hated being touched this much, hated it, but didn’t have the concentration required to push her away. “Breathe, breathe.” She repeated over and over again. He wanted to tell her that he was trying, he was trying _so fucking hard_ , but the words just wouldn’t form themselves.

When he started to sway she sat him down on the curb and wrapped one arm around him, trying to calm him down with warmth. How long had she been doing this? How did she know all of these procedures? She shifted to her knees in front of him and cupped his cheeks with hair hands, then softly blew air on his face.

“Can you breathe? Is it easier?” He nodded once, his eyes still searching her face. “Do you want to go home?”

“No,” He breathed.

“Is there anywhere you want to go right now?”

“No.” _Please stop touching me._

She searched his face for a few more seconds and for a moment he was scared he might start hyperventilating again. But then she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, nearly squeezing the small amount of air he had right out of him, and sat there.

He dragged in a shaky breath and tried to keep his thoughts focused on the present, because there was absolutely nothing in his brain that could help him right now. Breathe, breathe, breathe, he had to repeat, like he had sleep apnea but was _awake_ for the sheer pain of it all.

God, he was a walking social disaster.

He buried his face in her scarf, still struggling to gain full control of his head. It was a while before he could bring himself to grasp the back of her jacket and pull the warmth closer, to breathe it in and feel a little safer again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. The Shitty Doctor from Hell

**IV**

**The Shitty Doctor from Hell**

 

Warning: strong language, mentions of suicide.

 

“I’m sorry,” She apologized for the thousandth time.

He rolled his green eyes. “I’ve already told you that it’s fine.” She was about to apologize again but he sighed dramatically, cutting her off. “Can we just forget about it?”

“No.” She tugged at the blanket Percy had wrapped tightly around himself. “Percy, we need to talk about this.”

“No offense, Thalia, but you’re one of the last people I’d ever talk to about something like this.”

“It’s unhealthy, and abnormal, and—”

“It doesn’t affect me in daily life.”

He could almost _hear_ her indignation in the silence. “Percy, you can barely take a fucking _bath_. You had a nervous breakdown because you walked into a _room_. Are you _really_ feeding me that bullshit right now?”

“Go to your own room, Thalia.”

“Do you have any other triggers I should know about?”

“I don’t have any—”

“ _Fine.”_ She stood, relieving a weight from the mattress. Her steps clacked as she left the bedroom. The door slammed shut behind her by no sheer accident.

Now that she was gone, Percy rolled out of the covers and finally kicked his shoes off. He was more tired than anything else now that the initial excitement had passed and his adrenaline supply depleted. And he still hadn’t taken a shower.

He froze at the sudden sound of his neighbor’s voice again, ready to leap back into the haven that was his bed at any given moment.

“Yes, he’s not giving any other hints…” She was saying in a formal tone. A few more words and he suddenly had a sickening feeling sink into the pit of his stomach.

Without thinking of the consequences he threw open the bedroom door and took two long strides in her direction, keeping the couch between them as a buffer. “Who are you talking to?” Her lips had frozen in place the second he’d entered and now, she was speechless for the first time he had ever seen. “Who are you talking to about me?”

“No one, Percy—” She still hadn’t hung up and he was _this close_ to launching himself at her and throwing the device against a wall.

“Hang up, _right now._ ”

“Alright, okay,” She slowly raised a thumb to the red dot on the touch screen and pressed it. Her other hand came up as well in an appeasing gesture, as if she were trying to calm down a trigger happy maniac. (He hated the analogy his brain had come up with.) “Calm down.”

“I told you to get out of my apartment.”

_Now_ she was angry. “I don’t have to listen to you.”

“You _do_ when you’re breaking the rules of common courtesy. Get _out_.”

“No.”

“Now.”

“ _No, Percy.”_

He hated how she made him feel reduced to a pouty three year old, arguing back and forth over something stupid and getting nowhere. “Who were you talking to?”

She bit her cheek. “Your handler, Dr. D.”

He clenched his jaw. “Why?”

She looked really uncomfortable now. “He asked me to. Uh, give him updates on your moods.”

“He told you to _spy on me_?”

“It isn’t as big of a deal as you think it is.”

“Isn’t a big deal?” He moved to one side and she moved to the other, hoping to keep some distance between them. “Don’t you think it’s enough that I have a camera in every single room except for the bathroom?” Judging by the look on her face, she hadn’t known about that. He could have kicked himself just for mentioning it out loud. “Is nothing private?”

“I haven’t told him much.”

“You probably told him all about yesterday, and the trip. The showers and the bar and the _phone number_ —”

“ _Gods_ Percy, I’m not _that_ much of a—”

“ _Bitch?_ I beg to differ.” He’d long since figured out that aforementioned profanity was a trigger for her and thus had never used it in her presence. Until now.

Her face contorted into one of complete hatred and disgust, and for a second he was sure she was going to try to fight him. But all she did was stomp out of the room before he could make an even worse remark to get her to stay.

He slammed the door behind her and locked it, though he knew it was pointless since she could probably get in whenever she freaking _felt_ like it. When that wasn’t satisfying enough, he gave an infuriated yell and launched himself at the couch. A moment later, he heard the female equivalent of the noise through the thin walls.

“God _dammit_.”

 

**_P_ **

 

He had called Leo after his argument with Thalia yesterday and told the waiter he couldn’t make it. The college student must have sensed something in the boy’s tone because he didn’t ask for any details, and only told him he hoped he would feel better soon. He didn’t really feel any better today but he was going to have to work extra hours, or Artemis would have his ass.

After twenty minutes of staring at the ceiling and not really liking what he saw (holy _shit_ , how many spiders had decided to just colonize in the corner?), he dug the crumpled up napkin out of his pocket and dialed the number before he could stop himself.

Two rings, and then a click.

_“Hello?”_ The person on the other end sounded breathless. In the background, Percy could hear what sounded like a group of people trying to harmonize.

“Hello?”

_“Sorry, who is this? It’s coming up as a private number.”_

“Oh. It’s Percy. Jackson.”

A pause, and for a second Percy freaked (what if the guy didn’t remember him???). _“The bartender?”_

“Know anyone else with that first name?”

The laugh on the other end was enough to calm him down. _“No. No, I don’t.”_ He paused to talk to someone on his side. _“Listen, can I call you back? Choreographer’s being a bitch.”_

“Sure,” Percy shrugged, forgetting the guy wouldn’t see it. He hung up after a second, then tossed the phone to the other side of the bed. He rolled over and groaned into the bed sheets, not even able to believe he was capable of making so many mistakes in so little time.

And today was _Sunday_ , fuck.

He repeated the profanity multiple times as he threw off his clothes on the way to the bathroom. Before he had time to think he hopped into the tub and set the water on full blast so that it soaked him in moments. He managed to hold out for longer than he thought he would before he had to step out again and dry himself off.

On his way to his closet he kicked the trail of unwanted clothes to the side and only pulled on what he needed, along with the plainest clothes he owned. He always wore the same clothes for Sunday mornings.

The triple knock came right as he was strolling out of his bedroom, not caring enough to clean up the mess he left behind. He opened the door for the regular visitor, fixing his face into a bored expression. It wasn’t hard.

“Good evening, Perry.”

Just three words in and Percy had the urge to bury his knuckles in the folds of the man’s face. “Hey.”

The shitty doctor from hell sat himself and his bag down on the larger of Percy’s two couches and made himself comfortable, just like he did every other Sunday. “A glass of water would be much appreciated.” Percy wordlessly prepared the request and set it down on the coffee table in front of the doctor’s legs. “How are you doing?”

“Good.”

“Settling in well?”

“Yeah.”

“Getting along with neighbors?”

“Yup.”

“Working your job,”

“Mm-hmm.”

The older man slurped his water and Percy barely restrained his cringe at the noise. “Did you go to the support group last night?” He received no answer. “So it didn’t go well?” Again, no answer. “So being in a room full of people like that is a trigger for you?” _A room full of suicidal people._

Percy’s pocket began to vibrate.

“Don’t ignore it on my account,” Dr. D offered. Percy opted to ignore the call, though he was 99.9% sure he knew exactly who the caller was. “Are you still having troubles with water? Seeing bathtubs, taking showers, going swimming? Have you gone swimming recently?”

“Do I _look_ like I’ve gone swimming recently?”

“There is no need to be so hostile, Payton. I’m only trying to help – that’s what I get paid to do, after all.” He made some sort of note on the corner of a pen pad. The buzzing in Percy’s pocket ceased. He had to force his hand to stop inching towards the device. “Have you begun any new relationships lately?”

Percy looked up from his feet. “What?”

“Relationships. Romantic ones, specifically. Are you seeing anyone, Percy?”

A ‘fuck you, Thalia’, was in order, and he put it at the top of his list of Things to Do After Kicking the Doctor’s Ass Out. “No.”

“Is that so?” He didn’t write anything down, a clear sign that he didn’t believe Percy. “Who was calling you just now?”

“None of your business.”

“Such a childish answer from an eighteen year old.” He didn’t get any reaction, but apparently he was here for one. “But I suppose your mental growth’s probably still stunted at sixteen years old. What with your entire life halting with your incarceration and all.”

Percy looked down immediately and cursed silently when he heard the scratch of pen against paper.

“I didn’t know there were so many landmines around you, Percy. You don’t seem to have any fear of fire, strangely enough. But your aquaphobia extends to even the simplest of tasks. You have trouble taking showers though the bathtub is not filled.”

Oh my _god._

“It was noted recently that you absolutely refused to even _walk_ beside the East, which is just a few blocks down from here. If you had to pick a phobia, yours would be the worst one, living in a city surrounded by three rivers.”

“Well, I didn’t choose it.” He groaned as the doctor scribbled not so discreetly. “What could you have _possibly_ learned from that?”

“We’ve made progress,” He sounded more upbeat than his usual drawl gave away. “You’re beginning to accept your condition.”

“I’ve always accepted it, just not to you.”

“No need to get defensive; let’s keep the good vibes going.”

“If we continue this conversation, I’m going to want to bash your head against a wall.”

“And these violent feelings are a result of your dislike of this particular subject?” Dr. D wrote without even looking down at what he was writing. “You’re being so indicative today, Paul.”

Percy balled his hands into fists. “Dionysus,”

“Yes?”

“Why did you put Thalia up to spying on me?”

The man didn’t seem surprised at the question. _Scum_. “We needed someone to keep an eye on you. Someone with training as an emergency helper.”

“What, the cameras in my room weren’t enough?”

The older man’s lip twitched. He hadn’t expected the boy to find out so soon. “A living, breathing human was necessary. If it was just the cameras, you wouldn’t have been able to cope with your nervous breakdown from last night.”

“I wouldn’t have had it at all.”

Dionysus had no answer for that. His pager saved him from awkward silence by beeping twice. “It seems our time is up. You’re doing well, Peter.” He finished his water, gathered up his materials, and left the room as quickly as he had walked into it.

Not even checking to see if his door was locked, Percy pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and looked through his recents. Just like he thought, it was the stage actor who had called. Thankfully, he’d left a text message.

_Hey! Can’t talk right now, but was wondering if you were free later today. Coffee?_

Percy typed out a ‘sounds good’. He almost dropped the phone when it vibrated almost instantly after he sent the text.

_Oren’s in an hour cool?_

‘See you there’.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Did you call him?”

“You know, sometimes you’re so freaking bipolar I have no idea how to even talk to you.” She wasn’t bringing up their argument from yesterday and he didn’t know whether to admonish or thank her. He opted for doing neither, knowing it was a topic he did _not_ want to face right now.

“At least I’m swinging into ‘mania’ right now – so you called him?” Miss Punk Rock stepped into his apartment to get a closer look at him and his actually showered self. He usually showered at night, but today – “You called him!”

“Yeah, but he didn’t pic—”

“Are you going to see him right now?”

“In like twenty minu—”

“What’s his name?”

“Will you let me finish _one goddamned sentence_?”

“Calm your tits, Percy. What’s his name?”

“Uh, Jason.” He ran a hand through his hair, leaning over the back of the sofa to grab the keys to his rental. When he turned back around, she was staring at him with her hand over her gaping mouth.

“Holy shit.”

“What?”

“Jason? Jason from _Rent!_? You’re meeting up with Jason from _Rent!_?”

“Yes, Thalia.” He raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”

“Well, there are three of them,” She seemed skeptical. “Two of them are understudies for the third, so they all look the same – _damn it_ Percy, can’t you remember a last name or something?”

“Why are you freaking out about this?” He used his body to shove her smaller one out of the doorway and locked the door behind him. He still hadn’t gotten an answer by the time they reached the elevator. It _ding_ ed, they stepped in, and then she finally spoke.

“Percy, hope against hope that the Jason you’re meeting up with is _not_ the Jason that I’m thinking of right now.”

“Why, is he a dick?”

“Well. He’s straight.”

“…so he’s a dick?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, honestly, Thalia. Do you really think straight, dick-ish Jason from _Rent!_ would give me his phone number?”

She bit her lip.

“…are you freaking serious?” It wasn’t a question.

They stepped out of the elevator as a completely bemused pair. The blonde at the desk (did she ever go to the bathroom or something?) didn’t even try to hide her amused smile. “Good morning, Thalia. Percy.”

“Good morning, Annabeth,”

“Hey, Chase,” He nodded in greeting. “Think you can make sense out of what Thalia’s talking about?”

Her gaze switched over to the more feminine of the two. “What are you two talking about?”

“Percy’s going on a date!”

Something about that sentence seemed to light a spark in the hearts of the women in Percy’s post detention facility life. The blonde’s grin immediately widened and her gray eyes sparkled. “Really?”

“I need to go.”

“Wait!” Thalia half choked him by grabbing the collar of his shirt. “You have twenty minutes; come talk to us about him.”

He gave her a ‘what the hell’ look before shrugging out of her grip. “Uh, he’s blond.”

“We’ve all seen the show, doofus,” Suddenly the secretary was _very_ informal with him. He hated when Thalia rubbed off on other used-to-be-nicer people. “What’s he _like_?”

Percy frowned. “…I have literally said less than ten words to him, and never seen him while he was sober. I have absolutely no idea what the hell he’s like.”

Annabeth glanced over at Thalia, suddenly a little worried. “Where did you two meet?”

“I served him a drink at a bar.” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he glanced down at it. “Okay, I really need to go now. Later, guys.” And he was out the door.

The two stared after him.

Thalia sighed. “I feel remotely like a worried mother sending her stupidly innocent and bullheaded kid off to his first day of school.”

The blonde couldn’t agree more. “Let’s just hope that Jason from _Rent!_ isn’t that bad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	5. Jason from Rent!

**V**

**Jason from _Rent!_**

****

Warning: strong language.

 

The green eyed teen absentmindedly wondered if he’d gone to the wrong Oren’s. Both branches of the coffee shop were on the same street and they hadn’t bothered to specify which one to meet at, and he just hoped that Jason from _Rent!_ would show up at the one closer to open theaters.

His phone beeped twice.

He didn’t realize how excited he was until his dyslexia told him by scrambling the letters on his screen, reordering them in time with his rapidly beating heart. He rubbed his eyes and told himself to calm down, and then read the text.

_I’m here. The one on W 115 th, right?_

He sighed in relief. Before he could answer, a second message followed the first.

_I see you._

Percy could have just sat for a second wondering what the level of creepy was supposed to be in that sentence, but someone slid into the booth across from him with a content sigh.

When he looked up, he had a taste of what eyes sharper than Thalia’s would look like.

The blond was wearing a white button down, which only served to add to his high class feel. The shock blue eyes helped, and for some reason, so did the scar in the corner of his lips. And _wow_. Muscles. Percy felt like he was staring at one of those perfect magazine models, except this one had actual facial expressions.

“Percy Jackson,” He reached over the tabletop and stuck out a hand. His mature image made Percy wonder if they really were close in age.

Percy shook his hand. “Jason from _Rent!._ It’s great to finally meet you while sober.”

The blond laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, the party got a little… out of hand, after a couple of hours.”

“Huge understatement.”

As he’d finished the comment a waitress came by to drop off their orders, nodding at both of them before returning to whatever post she was assigned.

“You drink your coffee _black_?” Jason looked up from his drink.

“It keeps me up longer,” He replied, then looked down at Percy’s cup. “Dude, why is _your_ coffee _blue_?”

Percy looked down at the light blue cream in his cup before shooting the waitress a thankful glance. “Blue’s my favorite color,” He shrugged. “It’s better than drinking straight up bitter as hell coffee, you have to admit. You’re going to crash in a couple hours.”

Jason snorted into his cup. They took a long synchronized sip.

“You said something about a choreographer earlier,” Percy remembered. “You have rehearsals on Sundays, too?”

“Every single day for the next four weeks,” Jason nodded. “The two weeks before opening night, we have to do a dress everyday to make sure we don’t mess up on a single thing.”

“Sounds intense.”

“You have no idea.”

“Wait, how old are you?” If he was working a job as strenuous as that one…

“Eighteen,” He answered easily, ( _oh,_ ) then looked suspiciously at Percy. “And you?”

“I’m also eighteen.” The dark haired boy could almost see the words ‘thank god, not a dropout’ plastered across the taller guy’s forehead. (Fuck. He was taller.) “How did you even land a part in _Rent!_ in your teen years? Isn’t most of the cast thirty years old? Or even older?”

He vaguely remembered Reyna’s information dump on him the three minutes they got to talk on his way over here. He didn’t want to be _completely_ oblivious to the musical theater world.

“Well,” Jason folded his arms on the table. “If they think you’re good enough for the part – like, if our voice matches and you can get into the character well enough – then they’ll make exceptions for just about anybody.”

“So you’re just _that good_?”

Jason shrugged, then laughed. “What do you do? Besides working as a midnight bartender.” He leaned in. “Most of the girls were after you, by the way. They woke up with hangovers and made up stories about your ‘interactions’ with them.”

“I don’t know whether I should be flattered or creeped out.”

“I think a little bit of both is good.”

Percy wasn’t sure. He shrugged. “I don’t really do much during the day. No classes this semester, no daytime job.”

“Hobbies?”

“Sleeping.”

“Friends?”

“A pair of lesbians from the apartment next door.”

Jason didn’t know whether he was joking or not. “Are you from out of town?”

Percy had no idea why he hadn’t realized sooner that giving such vague answers would logically lead to this conclusion. “I’ve been… away, for a couple years.”

“Oh. Makes sense.” Jason didn’t push him on the weak answer. “Wow, so you really have a lot of free time?”

“More than I can sleep through,” he assured.

“Girlfriend?” Percy gave him a look that made him awkwardly chuckle again. “Stupid question. So what do you do with all of your free time?”

“Watch porn.” Percy took a sip of his coffee, his eyes dead set on Jason’s.

The stage actor almost dropped his coffee in his lap as one of his hands flew to his mouth in shock. Percy’s expression didn’t change a bit and the blond slowly lowered the hand. “…really?”

“No.” He took another sip of the blue coffee, watching Jason recover from such a shock out of the corner of his eye. For someone older than him, he was awfully easy to tease. When Jason continued to stare at the table top in mild fear, Percy couldn’t hold back his half chuckle.

Jason relaxed at the sound. “Okay, you seriously worried me there for a second.”

“No kidding. I wish you could’ve seen your face.” He used the side of his hand to stop himself from laughing like an idiot again.

One of their phones rang, and it definitely wasn’t Percy’s. Jason pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the message. “Crap, my break’s almost over.”

“Better hustle,” Percy commented, slurping at the little foam he still had left.

“Yeah…” Jason slowly slid out of the booth. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later,” He seemed to be looking for some permission. Percy gave him a thumbs up. The effect was instantaneous, like watching water bloom the shit out of a sunflower. “See you, Percy Jackson.”

“Laters, Jason from _Rent!_.”

Jason stopped in his steps. “My last name’s Grace, by the way. I don’t think we ever covered that, and bringing it up any later would _probably_ be a little awkward.” He gave one wide, swooping wave before exiting the small coffee shop.

Percy just sat there, completely frozen for a second.

When his drink burned his tongue he set it down and whipped out his phone. Thank the gods the one he needed to talk to was the first one on his speed dial.

_“Hey, Percy! How’d it—”_

“Tell me your brother isn’t still in the closet.”

_“Wha—”_

“Tell me he _isn’t_ _on the fucking_ _cast of Rent!._ ” He didn’t wait for her to tell him anything. “What the fuck, Thalia. Seriously. Please don’t tell me you have another shit ton of secrets you’re keeping that I’ll have to find out about in violent or awkward ways. Please don’t make me throw your underwear out of your window again.”

But she hadn’t heard half of what he was saying; he could hear her Russian curses echoing on her end – she was pacing in the lobby of the Lodge.

 _“Oh my god, Percy. Of all the – of all the drunk hotties at the bar—_ ”

“Your brother came to me, yeah, of all people. Don’t dump this on _me_ , you lying halfie.”

_“This can’t be possible.”_

Percy thanked the waitress with a nod and exited the café, heading towards the subway. “I can’t believe it, either.” He muttered under his breath.

The line went silent for a second, before Thalia’s voice came calm. _“…but did you like him?”_

“That is really not important right now.”

 _“Yes, it is,”_ She didn’t sound as horrified as he thought she would. _“I mean, yeah, I’m really shocked that my brother’s coming onto you, but hey. Like sister, like brother, I guess? I can live with you dating my sibling, Percy. But did you like him?”_

“You’re insane.”

 _“I’m realistic.”_ A pause. _“I haven’t seen him in, like, three years. Is he hot?”_

“Why are you asking me? Google him or something.”

_“Because all Grace’s are undeniably attractive, obviously. I just want to know if he’s your type.”_

“I’m getting on the subway now.”

_“That was the most pathetic attempt at a subject change I have ever—”_

He hung up halfway through her statement, knowing full well that he’d have to suffer the consequences of such an action later. His phone buzzed the whole ten minute ride and it was with great abstinence that he managed not to throw it against the door and cease the suffering.

When he emerged from the underground station two streets down from the Lodge, he didn’t expect to see the Italian standing there, waiting for him. When he came up to her, she only wordlessly led the way back to his living quarters.

“Hello to you too, Reyna,” He muttered under his breath.

 

**_P_ **

 

“That’s. That’s amazing.” The other blonde in Percy’s life commented, still reeling in the sheer amount of serendipity in the tale they were still trying to fully explain. “I mean. You guys might become _actual_ siblings now, instead of just acting like twins.”

“Who said I was _marrying_ —”

“Not important right now, Percy,” Thalia cut straight to the important part. “Is he your type? Or, I mean, are you guys meeting up again?”

“Does he know we know each other?”

“Percy, he doesn’t even know we’re in the same city right now. I was going to surprise him by showing up on opening night.”

“I thought you’ve already seen the play.”

“I saw the movie. Huge difference. But that’s _not important!_ When and where is the next rendezvous?” Annabeth seemed just as eager to hear the answer.

“How would I know? We don’t even know if we’ll have time.”

“Did he invite you this time?”

“Yeah, he di—”

“And it was on his time, his choice of location?”

“Yes, bu—”

“That means it’s _your turn_ to invite _him_!”

“I am not inviting a guy out half an hour after I last saw him. You guys are out of your minds. Worry about your own love lives.” He didn’t know why they’d regrouped in _his_ apartment, but now he was being forced to clean it up to make it ‘presentable to the ladies’ or something.

“What are you doing tonight, Percy?”

“ _Working,_ fool.”

She threw a sandal at his back and he dodged without even looking. “Don’t you have enough money already? And I thought you didn’t have to pay rent this year.”

“He doesn’t,” Annabeth affirmed. “But he’s sure he won’t be here for longer than that so he wants to pay anyway.”

“Is there no such thing as dealer patient confidentiality in this world?” He made his seventh and final trip between the rooms, having moved all his _still_ unpacked boxes into his bedroom, where they would no longer be seen by anyone else.

“Maybe you can move in with him,” Thalia mused. Percy yelled a sigh from inside the bedroom.

“But, like Percy asked, is Jason still,” Annabeth let her friend’s mind make the necessary connections.

“Okay, honestly, I didn’t even know he had a closet to come out of. He dated _tons_ of girls in high school.” Thalia replied. “Maybe he’s bi?”

“You’re his sister, _you_ should know,” Percy tossed, pulling the creaky door to the bedroom shut. He stood for a moment to take in the cleanliness of the room. “Wow, it’s never felt this empty before.”

“That’s because all you’ve bought is this bigass sofa,” Thalia fell back on the bouncy blue fabric. “And why is it _blue_? The rest of your room’s all red.”

“Blue’s my favorite color,” He replied defensively.

“That doesn’t mean you get clashers for your apartment. What if someone who isn’t as understanding as us visited? What if _Jason from Rent!_ visited?”

“Thalia, I didn’t expect you to be so on board with Percy dating your brother,” The silent brunette spoke up from the original couch she had to herself. Percy agreed with her one hundred percent, and looked to the black haired girl for some sort of explanation.

“It could be good for both of you.” She answered. “You need someone to take up the hours of your day that you just waste lying around.” When he came to sit next to her, she put a hand intrusively on his stomach. He stiffened immediately. “How are you so fit when you don’t _do anything_?”

“Well,” He peeled her hand off of himself as quickly as he could without seeming completely rude. “For starters, I _walk_ everywhere. My board’s wheels broke, and now I’m left with feet.”

“Don’t you use the subway?”

“Very rarely.”

“No bus?”

“No.”

“Taxi?”

“ _Hell_ no.”

The three girls lapsed into silence. “No, I don’t think I could do that. Walking takes too much time, and taxis are too convenient.”

“That’s why you’re out of—”

She slammed her fist into his stomach, cutting him off. He doubled over reflexively. “Do you think we could come with you to your next meet up?”

He sat back up after noticing her punch had failed to do any _real_ damage and scooted a little further away from her. “Yeah, let’s just confirm my homosexuality by announcing that all my friends are girls, most of whom enjoy the company of other girls.” He glanced at Annabeth, who only blinked. “No, that’s not happening.”

His phone buzzed twice on the table, halting all train of thought in the room. The first one to reach it was _Annabeth_ , of all people, who refused to give it to him. She hopped onto Reyna’s taller sofa and held it high above her head, just out of Percy’s reach.

When he moved over to her she tossed the cell phone to Thalia, who immediately began to read the text. “‘Hey, sorry for ditching out on you this morning’. Aww, Percy, he’s such a great guy.”

“Give. Me. My. Phone.”

“Wait, wait, there’s another one! ‘You were right about the coffee’. What does that mean?”

Percy tackled her onto the couch, pinning her down beneath his back and pulling the phone out of her smaller hands. Annabeth’s eyes widened and she glanced at Reyna. Ignoring her attempts to wriggle free, he moved himself to sit down on her stomach. “It’s none of your business, midget.”

She reached up to pull his hair but he leaned out of her nails’ reach. “I _will_ hurt you.”

He glanced at the Girlfriend with Good Taste, who was only halfway through the last bag of Percy’s chocolate chips. She wouldn’t be getting up to help Thalia anytime soon, so he only had to worry about the smallest girl.

“Are you guys hungry?” He asked the other two.

Reyna nodded, as always, and the blonde shrugged. “Are we going somewhere?”

“I was just thinking about making something, real quick.”

Thalia paused beneath him. “Can you cook anything besides blue pancakes?”

“Can you cook _at all_?”

“Yeah, it’s not that hard,” he shrugged, picking himself up off his female version.

The blonde’s grey eyes widened. “Oh my goodness. In all my summers of working here, I’ve met only three residents who can cook for themselves, and all of them, girls. You’re a rare breed, Percy.”

He rolled his eyes and made his way to the fridge. When he was hidden by the open door, he mentally pat himself on the back for distracting them with food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	6. The Blonde who Seems to Know Everything

**VI**

**The Blonde who Seems to Know Everything**

 

Warning: strong language.

 

By the time he had finished cooking their whatever soup (as Thalia had dubbed it), with its motley of everything he had in his fridge, the others had already moved the couches out of the way to sit on the ground around his coffee table.

“A man who can cook,” Annabeth moaned into her spoon. “How are you still single?”

“Can’t all gay guys cook?” Thalia broke in.

The cook rolled his eyes and dished out a bowl for himself. “Chase,” He flicked Thalia’s hands away from the mushrooms in the pot, “What do you _do_ all day? You don’t look like you’re even twenty yet.”

She set her bowl down and leaned over the edge of the couch to reach her bag. It took her a second to pull out a fat textbook that he’d seen on her desk multiple times but never really bothered to look at.  “I’m nineteen, and a college student.”

He tried to read the title of the book from where he sat but bright green letters, cursive, white background and dyslexia didn’t really mix well together. “What are you majoring in?”

“Architecture.”

“She’s really good, too,” Thalia paused from her task to steal all the mushrooms from the pot to add.

“Semester starts in late October though, so I’m just getting study work in before then.” She pointed out his windows to a building in the distance. “I’ll be going there,” A large grey building on the corner of the street, “for the time being, and I’m hoping to transfer by next year.”

“Bigger dreams?”

She grinned. “Most definitely.”

“If you don’t have anything better to do, you can always become a cook,” Reyna commented. “Go to culinary school or something.”

He made a face. “I don’t like cooking _that_ much.” Which was technically a lie – he liked it a lot, but not enough to _work_ to cook for customers. He guessed he was just lazy. “I just find it pleasingly cathartic.”

“Ideal husband,” Annabeth grinned. “Do you like cleaning, too?”

Thalia snorted, which was enough of an answer. “Finish your soup, dumbass,” Percy nudged. “And then get out of my apartment. Gods, you’re in here more than I am.”

“You don’t lock your door well enough.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Then who’s the real dumbass?” She leaned across the table to pick at her favorites from Reyna’s plate, something the latter was apparently used to – she let Thalia do her damage before continuing to spoon the soup into her mouth.

“Poor Reyna’s gonna get almost nothing to eat, what with how much food you’re stealing.” But what he was _really_ wondering about was how the hell the brunette hadn’t felt sick yet, filling up on chocolate chips and then onto something completely different.

“Iron stomach,” Annabeth leaned over to whisper knowingly. Openly, she said, “The two of you get along so well.” The looks she got from the two of them almost made her splutter out her soup in laughter.

“I’m going to go broke if you guys keep eating here. Chase aside, the two of you empty a third of my kitchen every time you show up at my door. Or, more accurately, on my couch.”

“Don’t mention a girl’s eating habits, you rude brat.” The Personification of Punk Rock elbowed him in the stomach and he thanked the gods that his bowl was empty – he could really do without a burn on his crotch right now.

“Why are you in such a hurry, anyway? Do you have to go to work early or something?” The blonde who seemed to know everything guessed and hit the mark.

“Yeah. I missed it yesterday because…” He trailed off. Thalia and Annabeth both looked down at the floor. “…yeah, so I have to work extra hours today.” He stood, dropped his bowl off in the sink, and washed his hands. “You guys can hang out or whatever, but just leave the bowls in the sink.”

He grabbed the keys and waved at the chorus of goodbyes behind him before heading down the elevator and outside.

 

**_P_ **

 

Leo had not stopped staring at him from the moment he walked in. Every time Percy turned around, the short waiter would duck his head and try to hide his knowing smile. Every time he looked up from checking his phone (which was _not_ often), Leo would be leaning over his shoulder.

“What the hell is going on?” He whispered to the older of the two waiters.

The African American glanced at his more excitable coworker. “I have no idea. He’s only been like this since you showed up.” He waved the Mexican over and brought him into the worker’s circle. “Why are you creeping on Percy, man?”

Leo made a derp face that quickly morphed into a knowing grin, one that Percy felt like punching for some reason he couldn’t quite describe. “Because!” He leaned in close, as if sharing some huge secret. “Percy has a boyfriend!”

Both taller boys blinked, then stared at each other. “You do?”

“Wait, no, I don’t. What are you talking about, Leo?”

It was his turn to pout. “I saw you at _Oren’s_ this morning. You didn’t even notice me, and then your date showed up before I got to come over.”

Beckendorf put one hand on his hip, surprised. “Wow, Percy. It’s only been a month and you’re already—”

“I just said, I _don’t have a boyfriend_.” Gods, he’d just managed to escape this topic at home, and now it was plaguing him at work, too. Was there _really_ nothing more interesting to talk about than the misunderstandings of Percy’s love life?

“Then who was _Jason_?”

Percy bit the inside of his cheek, giving his coworker a malicious glare. “That was my neighbor’s famous brother, Jason from _Rent!_.”

“Oh,” The elf deflated, filling Percy with a sense of relief that the conversation was over.

Except no, no it was not. “Wait. Jason from _Rent!_? Wasn’t that the guy who gave you his number a couple days ago?” Leo bounced right back up and Beckendorf laughed at Percy’s withering glare. “Sorry, man – I think out loud.”

“Get off my counter top, you animals,” He shoved their elbows away and continued to wipe dust off, patiently ignoring their laughter. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he got a customer to take his mind off things. “What can I get you?” He asked once she sat on a barstool.

He hadn’t really expected to see someone like her at the bar side of the café, what with her elegant demeanor, fancy clothes, and perfect posture… but he wasn’t one to judge.

“I’ll have a dirty lemonade, please,” She said, setting her purse down on the stool beside hers.

It had been a long time since he’d prepared one of those, but he was glad he didn’t mess up in front of her. (He didn’t like messing up in front of anyone.) She didn’t look like one of the customers who abhorred talking to servers so when he set down her drink, he gave her a friendly smile. “Are you waiting for someone?”

She took a sip, smiling at the taste, and then shook her head. “No, I’m just,” She glanced off to the side.

“Just needed a drink?”

“Something like that.”

He nodded. “My name’s Percy,” He offered.

“Hello,” She gave a small bow (wow, he didn’t know there were still people like her in this city). “I’m Silena Beauregard.”

He tossed his dry towel over one shoulder and leaned against the counter. “Well, Miss Beauregard, it’s not even sunset yet, and you just ordered a heavy alcoholic drink. So you mind if I ask why?”

“Long day,” she summed up. “But I only have a month of them left, and then things will get easier.”

He recalled the last time he’ heard that phrase with that time period. “…sorry, are you on the cast of _Rent!_?”

She sucked in her drink too quickly. “Uh, um, yeah,” She nodded. “I just came here a few nights ago,”

“For an after party?” Wow, he just had _amazing_ luck. “That’s awesome.”

She smiled more openly. “Practices are getting more difficult, but it’s worth it for the show.”

“So I’ve heard.” He glanced at the glass she’d emptied so quickly without even blinking.

The largest of the three workers at the time came over with an order. “Three dry Martinis, if you would.”

Percy pulled a bottle from beneath the counter and began mixing, momentarily wondering why so many people were drinking so early in the evening. The city really _had_ deteriorated while he was gone. After he passed the glasses to Beckendorf, he returned his attention to his one customer.

Three things, he noticed: one, she was biting her lip. Two, she was blushing, not too strongly but it was still visible. Three, she was staring at a specific coworker of his and Percy could not _believe_ that Beckendorf had landed such an admirer.

“Thank you for the drink,” She bowed slightly, jolting him out of his reverie, and paid for the drink with a heavy tip.

“Have a nice day,” He managed, before staring at her disappearing figure.

Beckendorf came around back, following Percy’s gaze at the closed door. “What are you staring at?”

“Your lack of a girlfriend,” Percy muttered, earning himself a smack to the back of the head.

 

**_P_ **

 

‘Sorry I never replied – got held up with something.’

_It’s all good. We had a late rehearsal, anyway – I wouldn’t have been able to see it._

‘Yeah, one of your friends told me about it.’

_Friends?_

‘Beauregard?’

_Silena met you? She knows you?_

‘Ha, no. She came over to the bar for a drink.’

Percy glared down at the screen, wondering how the hell he was supposed to reply to that. And because he glared, his dyslexia kicked in, blurring his entire keyboard. He didn’t get to reply, however, because suddenly his work life and his personal life meshed together when the door opened.

“Whoo! It’s empty,”

He’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“There’s Percy!” Clacks of heels that she _never freaking took off_ signaled her arrival at the bar, followed by heavy thuds of boots and then relatively normal footsteps. “Aww, Perce, you look so good in a tie. You should wear one more often.”

“Why are _you_ here?” He glared at the blue streak that so closely matched his own.

The shortie frowned. “ _Rude_. May I speak to your _manager_ , you horse’s ass?”

“I am the manager, Thalia.” He nodded to the two who sat on either side of her. “What are you doing.”

“Buying a drink. What do you recommend?”

“Water.”

“Hmm,” She thought for a moment. Reyna leaned over and ordered a beer on tap. “I’ll get the same.”

Beckendorf came over, bored with the lack of customers, and sat on Reyna’s other side. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then nodded approvingly. Percy had no idea what that meant, but apparently the waiter did. Must’ve been a trust thing.

“I’m Beckendorf,” He introduced.

Surprisingly, none of the other girls blinked at the lack of a first name.

“This is Reyna, I’m Thalia, and she’s Annabeth. We’re Percy’s new neighbors.”

“ _Ohh,”_ He nodded. “Yeah, Percy’s told me a lot about you.” Percy purposely turned his back to his neighbors’ glares, working on pulling out mugs for their drinks. By the time he turned back around, “…some, and I quote, ‘crazy bitch from next door’.”

Percy made a note to castrate Beckendorf the second he lost his job.

“Oh. He said that, did he?” She turned to him with a threatening eyebrow raise.

“Well, that’s nothing compared to what you say about _him_ ,” Reyna muttered.

Silence. Beckendorf leaned forwards. “Okay, I’m _really_ interested.”

Percy towel whipped his coworker in the face. “Go clean, or something. Leo’s working the entire floor by himself right now.” Beckendorf slid off the barstool slowly, running a hand over his features and muttering curses under his breath. “Finally.”

“You’re so mean to your friends,” Thalia observed, sipping the foam before it could overflow onto her hands.

“You’re worse.”

“Did you ever reply to his text?”

“If you’re planning on surprising him, should you _really_ be walking around where he could accidentally bump into you?”

She seemed to actually contemplate that statement, but only for a second. “That’s why we came at, like, eleven at night. Can you come? Wanna watch a movie or something?”

He didn’t know why, but he felt a little guilty. “I can’t. Even though we close early today, my shift still ends at around one.”

“Oh,” She deflated a bit. He patted her head reassuringly, surprising himself. He’d been working to adjust to her extremely touchy feely habits, but now it seemed that they were rubbing off on him. Maybe she wasn’t so bad. “Next time, then.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Annabeth cut in, smiling. Reyna subtly snaked an arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders. “We’ll probably still be up by the time you get back. We don’t plan on sleeping early when break’s about to end, do we?”

The leader of the trio perked up immediately. “Sounds awesome!” She chugged her beer (Percy ogled) and slapped down a few dollar bills. “Well. I will see you… _later_ ,” He shuddered at her tone as she dragged the other two away from the counter, leaving just as quickly as she came.

He was left stunned, standing on the edge of the counter and staring at the receding backs fading into the night. Damn this bar for having such tiny windows.

“Your friends are cool,” Leo came over once the girl storm had passed. “Loud, but cool.”

“We’re just lucky there were no other customers, otherwise Artemis would’ve _murdered_ us.” He took both the empty jugs (what was it with girls who could hold their liquor today?) and began to wash them absentmindedly.

“Do you think we’re getting any more patrons tonight?”

“God, I hope not,” Beckendorf slid into one of the still warm stools. “This morning was a mess. The café was _full_ of people waiting to try the autumn whatevers.”

“So I’m guessing you got a lot of tips?”

“When have morning patrons tipped? Ever?”

Percy grinned and set to drying the jugs. He didn’t think anyone else would be coming in today, anyway. People rarely drank on Sunday nights and when they did, it was usually earlier then midnight. And they were nearing the twelve right now.

“We still have another hour,” Leo groaned, his hand already inching towards his back pocket.

“Please don’t tell me you brought cards on the floor. _Again_.” Beckendorf gave his own groan when the elf whipped out his deck of cards from his pocket, ready to slack off and play some cards.

“Come on, there’s no one here.”

“With your luck, someone’ll probably walk in halfway through the game. Put them away.”

“But—”

“No.”

“Just—”

_“No.”_

Percy made a half annoyed, half dejected sound and shoved the deck back in his pants. “You guys are _so_ boring. And such rule followers, too.”

Percy raised his eyebrows. “You’re saying this to the guy who just got out of detention a month ago?”

“Yes,” Leo’s own eyebrows crashed down in a glare. “I bet you were a conformist there, too.”

Percy rolled his eyes.

 


	7. A Pretty-Sensitive-but-Still-Awesome Guy

**VII**

**A Pretty-Sensitive-but-Still-Awesome Guy**

Warning: strong language.

 

Percy’s eyebrows shot into his fringe when the doors opened again. His back was still turned while he closed all the cabinets, but he called, “Did you forget something?” Or maybe his coworkers had decided to be nice and help him clean up for a change.

“Not exactly.”

Percy whipped his head around so fast the ends of his hair slapped him right in the eye. “Jason?”

“From _Rent!_ , yup.” He stepped closer to the bar, taking in the setting. “Your friends let me in, by the way.”

 _You guys._ Percy glanced at the clock. “It is, like, three thirty in the morning. Don’t you have rehearsal in a couple hours or something?”

Percy wondered if it was possible to mature in two and a half days, because that’s exactly what it felt like to see the blond standing in the middle of his workplace and looking like a freaking centerfold. With clothes on.

He shrugged. “I can still get enough sleep.” Which led Percy to wonder why he was _here_ , at _this time_ , and _alone_. Jason seemed to hear the unspoken question and answered it himself. “I was out and saw the lights on, and thought I might drop in to say hi.”

Percy crossed his arms before even realizing he was doing so.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, so, I wasn’t exactly just around. But I was close enough.” Percy’s silence just seemed to elicit all this guilt out of the blond. “Yeah, I googled to see when it was closing. I came to say hi, though. That part wasn’t a lie, at least.”

He managed to restrain himself from laughing. “Well, I’m just about to leave now. Where were you headed?” He grabbed his jacket and keys from a hidden compartment in the corner.

“Just to my hotel on West 48th,” He mumbled.

“ _48 th?_ Did you _walk_ here?” The other boy gave no reply, and Percy shook his head. They turned off the lights and stepped out into the night air. “Alright. I know we won’t get _too_ much traffic for the next ten blocks, so we can just walk over.”

“You’re walking me back?” He seemed surprised, like ‘this is _not_ how I expected this to go’.

Percy gave a small smile as they began to walk. “I’m on 56th – your place is on the way, so might as well head over together.”

That seemed to please the ( _taller_ ) blond and he fell into step beside the sloucher. Conversationally, “So do you _always_ work such late hours?”

Percy nodded. “I mean, like I said, I don’t do anything besides sleeping during the day. A night job kind of fits.” He glanced at blue eyes. “What about you? You _always_ stay up till three, waiting to jump guys at their jobs?”

“ _No_ ,” The reply was instantaneous and defensive and Percy could not help but laugh.

“You could always, you know. Call.” Percy touched his own phone in his pocket. “I mean, you have my number now.” Or maybe Thalia was right, and it _was_ his turn to call. Was that the ‘call code’ or whatever? Did they take turns?

The stage actor was having none of the inner conflict Percy faced. He only sighed. “I don’t always have my phone with me. You kind of have to throw your social life away during tech and show weeks.”

“So no talking to parents or anything?”

Apparently he skimmed a closed topic. “We don’t really talk.”

Percy quickly let it go. “Do you have any siblings?”

That was, apparently, the right thing to ask. “Yeah, I have an older sister. Her name’s Thalia.” Percy felt like he just watched his calm and controlled partner morph into an excited and hyperactive puppy. “She’s really smart – she left our house early to become an oil painter. She was scouted by a _ton_ of colleges in freshman year.”

Percy had to choke back the ‘holy shit’ in his throat. _The Personification of Punk Rock_ was a _painter_? And apparently a freaking amazing one? “Is she in college now?”

“Uhh,” He rubbed his neck again. Percy took note of the nervous habit. “I don’t really know. Like I said, she left the house early. I haven’t seen her since spring of my sophomore year.”

Percy nudged him with his elbow. (Mental thanks to Thalia – he could manage body contact with other people.) “I’m sure you’ll see her soon. The city’s weird like that.”

A laugh. “Yeah, I hope so.”

They walked in silence for a block and Percy hoped against hope that Jason wouldn’t ask about the next obvious topic transition. But apparently the odds were _not_ in his favor.

“What about you? Got any siblings?”

He exhaled through his nose. “I, um. I don’t have any actual siblings, but I have a cousin. From my mom’s side. She’s cool, I guess. But, just like you, I haven’t seen her in… in a while.” He was slowing in speech a little bit, and Jason was quick to notice.

“You alright, man?”

“Yeah,” He assured, keeping his focus on the road in front of him.

Jason mercifully changed the subject. “Sorry if my voice is a little hoarse today, by the way. I had to sing the same song about twelve times.”

Oh yeah, the dude was in a play. That Percy still had _no idea_ about. “Speaking of which, what part do you play?”

The blond immediately stopped in the middle of the street. Percy tugged him out of the way when a (probably drunk) driver honked and swerved as he passed. “I think,” He rubbed his mouth, “That we should change the subject.”

“… I’m curious now.”

“No.”

“Dude, seriously. You’re an actor. Be proud of your role.”

“I know. But no.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing _too_ weird.”

He sighed. “You should just come check it out yourself, then. Opening night is in a week and a half.”

That actually didn’t sound too bad. He didn’t have to check his schedule, since it would most undoubtedly read ‘nothing’ anyway. “Maybe I will.”

Jason turned his head to look at Percy but he was, as always, staring ahead. He bit back a smile. “Okay. I’ll hold you to that.”

“Sure,” He shrugged.

They stopped in front of the Hilton, still bustling with the people at this time of night. “I guess it would be weird of me to invite you in this late, right?” He continued more quietly, “Besides the fact that I share a room with two other people,”

Percy raised his eyebrows at that comment.

“Wait, that – we’re – we’re the same cast, we’re cast members,” Jason stumbled over his words while trying to explain.

Percy pat his back encouragingly. “It’s all good, man. I should get home, too.” He gave a small smile before continuing down the road towards the fifties. “Laters,”

“Bye!” Jason waved, knowing he wouldn’t see, before jogging into warmth.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Dude, we had a code.”

“You _really_ need to stop doing that,” Percy almost threw himself against the door in surprise. He punched the lights on and glared at the girl lounging in the middle of his carpeted floor.

She rolled over and returned the hostile expression. “When you get home from work, we watch a movie. Rules are rules, bro.”

“I’m, like, twenty minutes late. It’s not that big of a deal.” He checked the clock. Twenty minutes, sixty minutes – same difference.

“I started freaking out, like ‘what happened to Percy?’. I thought you might’ve gotten mugged or something.”

“Good to know you have so much faith in me,” He muttered, shedding his jacket and tossing it over one of the sofas. His shoes and socks were tossed to one side, and he was already unbuttoning his shirt while walking into his bedroom. “I got held up with something.”

“What kept you?”

“None of your business.” She used one of his shoes to throw the door open, exposing him halfway out of his pants. He furiously shut the door again. “What is your _problem_?”

“I’m possessive of my friends, Percy.” She continued talking to the door. “In this case, I have a right – it’s almost four in the morning and you’re usually here half an hour earlier, and—”

“I bumped into someone,” He cut off, not really wanting to feel guilty right now. He was still riding the high from way back at ‘ _holy shit Jason from Rent! is here to pick me up shit holy shit_ ’ and didn’t want anything to ruin it. “I walked him part of the way over.”

She sat up straight, her bright eyes following his pajama-ed self to where he lay down with a pillow on the floor beside her. “Who?” He didn’t answer. “Oh my _god_ , _Jason_? You met up with _Jason_ at – what – three in the morning?” And suddenly she was a little grossed out.

He smacked her with a pillow. “I only walked him to his hotel.”

“How did you just ‘bump into him’ in a place like that?”

Percy bit his cheek.

“Did he come to pick you up from – oh my _god_ , I had no idea he was such a little… _cutie_. Damn, I regret missing his puberty years now.” She cursed, then returned to the conversation. “Is that why you were so happy when you walked in?”

His jaw dropped, just a little. “I was _not—_ ”

“You were smiling. And if I was listening correctly, you were humming a little, too.”

He buried his face in the pillow.

“It’s okay,” She laughed, rubbing his bare back. He flinched, and she stopped, but when he didn’t react she continued as if nothing had happened. “I just didn’t expect you to be the happy schoolgirl type, what with your intimidating aura and all.”

“I’m not intimidating.”

She managed to understand his mufflings. “Uhh, most of your friendship circle would beg to differ. And it makes sense – he probably had to get himself a little drunk to be able to talk to you in the first place.”

He turned on the TV Thalia had dumped in his room a few days ago. “So what are we watching?”

“You always change the subject when things get good.”

“I’ll kick you out.”

She calmed with raised hands. “Alright, to celebrate the occasion, let’s watch _Rent!._ It might even give you two something to have a conversation over the next time you meet.”

“It’s a play, right?” He asked as she searched through her choices, picked the title, and began playing the movie from the beginning.

“A musical,” She corrected. “There’s, like, barely any real talking. And in the live show, there’s even less.”

 _So Jason can sing._ Percy mentally added it to his file of ‘stuff he should know about Jason from _Rent!_ ’.

They began the movie and watched in silence, except for the occasional outburst by Thalia and the ‘no way’s from Percy. Halfway through, the blue eyed girl had to get up and grab a tissue (that she _said_ was for herself, and pretended not to notice when Percy reached for it), but the sun was up by the time they finished.

“Holy crap,” Red eyed, red nosed, sniffling Percy croaked at the ending credits.

“Right?” She just couldn’t tease him about his state of being, not when he was _so freaking cute_ about it. “And they’re going to be doing all that singing and dancing _live_. It’s going to be amazing.”

“No, but. I mean, yeah, it’ll be amazing, but. But the – I mean, the one person I was _not okay_ with anything happening to, just–” He cut himself off, glaring at the black screen.

She ruffled his hair before she could stop herself, and almost cursed when he flinched _again_. “I _know_. Literally _anyone_ else and I would’ve been fine, but. But that, that one character,” She stopped at one of his sniffles and, despite all attempts to stop herself, began to laugh.

“Don’t laugh,” He groaned into the pillow, the one thing that would accept and understand him.

“I’m not!” She said, laughing.

 _“Ugh_ ,” He groaned again, and she laughed harder. When he looked up at her sudden absence of warmth, she had gotten out her phone and was making a _video_ of him. He quickly hid his face with the pillow, trying to walk the recording device out of her hands. She curled up on the floor, laughing so hard that _tears_ began running down her cheeks.

“Percy, I just had no idea you were actually a pretty sensitive (but still awesome) guy,” She managed.

“I’m going to sleep,” He ignored everything she said and went into his bedroom, threw himself onto the bed and hoping the sheets would comfort him like he knew _Thalia wouldn’t_.

“Bye, Percy!” She called, turning off all the lights and shutting the door behind her. For once, she made an exit that was convenient for the both of them.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Why are your eyes red?”

Percy only glared at her through puffy lids, waiting for her to hand him his bills for the month.

“No, but seriously. What happened?” She was actually worried. Percy was crying? Percy, the freaky kid who just got out of two years of insanity ward in prison, who lived upstairs and had no friends except for other residents, was _crying_?

“It’s nothing,” He noted her concern. “Thalia just. Showed me something. Mildly sad.”

Her posture relaxed, but the surprise didn’t fade. Thalia had just pranced out the doors an hour earlier, mentioning something about watching _Rent!_ with Percy and then disappearing down the steps. “Oh.” She clasped her hands in front of her mouth to hide her small smile. So he cried over the _movie_.

“So can you give me my bills now?” He asked impatiently, no doubt fully aware of the direction in which her train of thought was heading.

“Yeah, of course,” She focused on the stack to her left and pulled out a manila envelope from underneath one of her architecture reference books. “It’s all in there, and it’ll be due next week.”

“Okay, thanks,” He took the packet, then frowned at the floor.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked again. Her hand turned her phone over underneath the desk.

He sighed. “This is a mildly embarrassing situation for me, and I’m trying not to make it too obvious. But damn my skin and complexion and whatever because it’s so freaking _obvious_.

“It’s not _that_ obvious,” She lied, and from his look she could tell that he knew it, too. “I mean, you could also say it was from a lack of sleep.” Which she guessed was also the case. She’d been at the Lodge for longer than usual last night, and he hadn’t walked past her then. She guessed he’d gotten home pretty late. “Although I know you have permission to ignore the curfew, is it good for your body to just skip sleep?”

He shrugged, and she felt something churn in her stomach. That was not the reaction she had wanted at _all_. “I’m feeling the same, so it’s not that bad.”

Suddenly she was a little angry, feeling her forceful side pop out of the woodwork (after she had spent his entire stay _keeping it reeled in.)_ Was ‘the same’ just code for ‘shitty all the time’? Because she was pretty sure his skin was not that pale usually, and that his everyday eye bags weren’t so dark.

“Percy, how many hours of sleep do you get a night?” Immediately, the look in his eyes hardened. She bit the inside of her cheek; so he wasn’t going to accept _that_ kind of worry.

“I’m going to go upstairs. Laters, Annabeth.”

She was lucky Thalia was on her speed dial.


	8. I Fucking Love Trains

**VIII**

**I Fucking Love Trains**

Warning: strong language.

 

He wasn’t _particularly_ happy when Jason rushed into the morning café, soaked through after running through the rain for who knew _how_ long. Neither was he _particularly_ glad that Beckendorf and Leo were both long gone, probably working on homework after their night classes.

He had just been about to light a cigarette, but set it on the bar when they bell on the door signaled the arrival of a new customer.

“H-hey, Percy,” the blond shuddered as he pulled off his jacket, leaving him only in wet pants and a (surprisingly) dry shirt. “This rain is _really something_.”

“It’s weird for this city, I know,” He offered him a seat at one of the bar side’s comfy loveseats. “Are you off today, too?”

He nodded and rubbed his hands together. “It’s a theater superstition thing – you come in with wet shoes or something, and it’ll be bad luck for the show. We got the day off, though, so no one was arguing.” Percy hummed a response, sitting across from him. “You seem a lot more open when your coworkers aren’t around,” Jason quickly noticed.

Jason noticed a _lot_ of things quickly, Percy realized – he’d learned that Percy absolutely _abhorred_ talking about himself, though for others’ words he was all ears. He had noticed Percy’s aversion towards body contact, and had adjusted himself accordingly. He’d even noticed Percy’s favorite color.

“They like to bring up awkward things in front of new acquaintances,” Percy muttered, earning a laugh. “Besides that, they’re alright. Can I get you anything?”

“No, no,” Jason waved him back to his seat. “I just got back from a dinner thing with the director to talk about my ‘lack of good performance’.”

“Gosh, I hope you don’t ruin the show.”

Jason rolled his eyes with a half chuckle.

“Are you nervous?”

His lack of a response was enough of one.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

A hum, but with clear disbelief in his eyes.

“And even if you did horribly, I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen a play live.”

 _That_ got a reaction, ending the one sided conversation _finally_. “You’ve never been to a play?”

“Nope,” Percy shrugged, subconsciously counting the joints on his fingers. When he noticed the blond staring, he finally realized it himself, and closed his hand into a fist. Clearing old nervous habits out only made room for more. “Like I said, I haven’t exactly been around.”

“They didn’t have plays where you were before?” The actor bit his tongue as soon as the question left this mouth.

But Percy only shook his head. “There were other things to keep you occupied instead.” He didn’t elaborate, and although Jason was just _dying_ for more details, he didn’t push the other boy. Damn his own constant worry for the other party.

“Do you play any sports, Percy?” The question seemed a little random. “I mean – this might sound a little intrusive – but you’re fit. Like, really fit. And you kind of, I guess, walk like someone who plays sports.” He shrugged.

“I used to,” Percy admitted. “Although I don’t know how you could tell. Do you play sports?”

The simplest questions were being evaded but Jason didn’t know why. For all he knew, he could be asking all the wrong things, and he was just hoping he would stop soon. “Hah, no. But you have to stay fit to be able to sing and dance like you mean it, so I spend a lot of time at the gym.”

“I can tell,” Percy replied easily, glancing at Jason’s muscled arms.

The blond gave a laugh to hide his blush. He’d been doing that a lot when in Percy’s company, because the guy just said the most normal things but with _bluntness_ that could probably make a stripper run for cover. He was embarrassed.

“Are you free tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” He hadn’t expected the bartender to be the one to initiate their next meeting. For all their ‘bumping into each other’ (Jason getting in Percy’s way), it was usually the blond doing the meeting.

“Yeah. I’m free the whole day tomorrow. I know you have rehearsal, but if you have time after, we could do something.”

Jason had to stop himself from jumping out of his seat. “That actually sounds fun,” He agreed. “I can get off early tomorrow because it’s mostly the girls’ practice, so we can totally do something. What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, is there anywhere you want to go?”

He thought for a second. His own ADD usually never let him sit through long movies, so the theater was a ‘no’. The beach here was total shit. (Or the shore, or whatever it was called – they’d have to take a boat to Long to get a decent view.) And where did he usually go for things like this? “We can hardly go on a romantic boat ride if it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”

He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud until Percy began laughing. Through his intense embarrassment he noticed that Percy didn’t laugh, or guffaw, but half chuckled and half _snorted_. It was like, randomly, he’d break off from calm teen to morph into an excited piglet. He bit his lip to keep from smiling at the thought.

“Are there any cool places to visit in the city?”

 _Now_ Percy remembered that Jason wasn’t actually a former resident here, and had as little idea of the attractions as a tourist from another state would.

“Well.” He sucked in his cheeks in thought.

(Jason smiled.)

“Do you like trains?”

 

**_P_ **

 

“I change my mind,” were the first words out of the taller boy’s mouth at the first stop of the tour. “I fucking _love_ trains.”

“That’s how it goes,” Percy laughed (something he seemed to be doing a lot of as of late), swinging his keys around his index finger as they walked.

The City Hall Loop, a subway station closed down after it was deemed unfit for the new age, was a work of art that didn’t deserve to be locked up for as long as it had been. Private tours were _such_ bull, and Percy had realized that a long time ago, back when he was fifteen and stupid and snuck in for a stupid dare.

The arches were intricately detailed with a different design at every stop stained glass to gold gears to iron swirls to stained glass again. The old lighting illuminated everything like a setting sun, bathing them in an almost ethereal light.

“It’s like walking into a movie set.” Jason stopped constantly as he walked, wanting to look at one thing at a time but then everything else all together. “I can’t be _lieve_ this is closed off to the public.”

“Not that we have to worry about that,” He replied, glancing at his reflection in a bronze mirror on one of the walls.

“Do I have to worry about getting arrested a week before my big break?”

“They don’t come down here during Autumn – not a good tourist season,” The resident replied as they passed the second waiting room, this one completely different from the first.

“Whoa,” Jason stared up at the _chandelier_ that hung so low they almost bumped into it walking past. He put a hand on Percy’s shoulder to show him as well – but then he remembered that the boy had something with body contact, and he let go as if he’d broken something.

Percy noticed.

He gave Jason a frown, which was more of a reaction than the blond was hoping for. “I’m not made of glass, Jason,” He said.

The blue eyed actor felt obligated to give a response. “I know.”

“Then you don’t have to go out of your way to not touch me.”

Was it _that_ obvious?

“I’ll tell you if I don’t like it.” He looked up at the ceiling. “And yeah, it’s pretty awesome.”

He took a second to stare at the illuminated profile of his… tour giver(?) before looking back up at the chandelier and agreeing with a half nod.

“Are you coming?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah,” He hopped to catch up to Percy, who was already walking towards the next stop. “How long does it go?”

“I don’t know,” Percy admitted. “At the sixth or seventh stop it’s barricaded off, and the last time I went over I got chased out by construction workers.” He shrugged.

“You think they’ll open it to the public if they’re working on it?”

He sighed. “I hope not,” which really was not the answer the blond was expecting. “Imagine all the crap that’ll collect down here if _people_ start using it.” He tapped a passing wall with his knuckles. “Nah, I’d rather it’s closed up and safe, for the daring people to enjoy for themselves.”

Their footsteps clacked as they walked, echoing in a way that they Jason found he just really, really liked. In that moment, he felt that he truly understood tap dancers.

“I’m guessing you’re thinking of something stupid right now,” Percy guessed, leaning over into Jason’s line of sight.

It took all his willpower not to jump out of range. “What?”

“I don’t know, you’ve got that ‘stupid thoughts’ face on.”

“And you know that because…?”

“I see it in the mirror every morning.”

Jason laughed.

“Careful there,” He tugged Jason’s elbow away from where he was standing too close to the curb. “Some of the tracks are still live. Wouldn’t want a barbecued actor on my hands on this fine Saturday evening.”

The blond all but leapt into his arms at the statement, and earned a laugh when he switched which side he was walking on. “I really wish I’d brought a camera or something,” He said, glancing up at a neatly tiled arch above his head. He wasn’t sure if he’d get to do this again.

He was drawn away from his thoughts by a cartoon-ish _captcha!_ sound from his right. He looked accusingly at the only other person in the tunnel, who shrugged with the incriminating evidence in his left hand.

“Did you just take a picture?”

“What makes you think—”

“The sound effect was _really_ loud.”

“Keep walking, Jason.”

“Show it to me.”

“There’s a lot more to see,” He pulled Jason towards the next area with a hand at the small of his back, that Jason could not shake off.

“What?” Percy had sensed his discomfort too quickly. His hand fell to his side subconsciously.

“I don’t know. It just felt weird to be led around by that part.” He rubbed it as if to get the sensations out of his nerves.

Percy snorted. “Imagine how girls feel.” Not bothering to wait for an answer, he pulled Jason along by the edge of his jacket.

“Why are we in such a hurry?”

“Because there’s so much to see!” He skipped in his step, maybe intentionally, maybe without realizing it, but it made Jason half smile either way. “Seriously, I don’t know if you’ll get a chance like this again. The lights are on, and everything.”

And that served to jinx the moment.

The sounds of echoing shutters approaching suddenly from behind them made the blond jump, but he almost shit himself when everything went dark and he was left _completely blind._

“That’s just perfect,” Came Percy’s annoyed mutter from somewhere to his right. _‘Somewhere to my right’ – so melodramatic, Jason._ He blindly grasped something in the dark, now even more aware of the fact that the tracks were _live_.

Percy caught his arm easily, then used his free hand to hold up the flashlight of his phone. “Super convenient. Let’s just get out before the battery dies.” Then he noticed how stiff the stage actor was. “Are you scared?”

“Do we have to walk all the way back?” He asked, not so subtly changing the subject.

Percy took the bait. “No, we can get back from the second station. We’ll just have to hop a fence before getting up the stairs.” He had no _idea_ what Percy did regularly to be so confident in his fence-jumping abilities.

He found he didn’t like the clacks _nearly_ as much in the dark, and that stairs were actual deathtraps that no person should ever have to face at night. The fence jumping was (thank _god_ ) avoided thanks to the broken lock, leaving them just another flight to climb up until they found themselves on the outer edge of a busy intersection.

“Did we leave the city?”

The question seemed to shock something out of his Percy, who mumbled a quiet ‘I’ll check’ before going through a dozen different commands on his phone. After a moment, he sighed (in relief?). “We’re only half a mile out. Should be a fifteen minute walk back to 9th.”

Now that the danger ( _melodrama_ ) had passed, Jason found himself thinking again of the beauty of the underground station. “It was _amazing_ ,” He repeated so many times that soon it felt like those were the only words he could use to describe his feelings for the place.

“It was, while it lasted,” Percy agreed, once again aware of the fact that the blond was taller than him. He’d managed to avoid thinking about it in the station, where the ground was tilted and uneven and put them at the same height, but now it came back like a wave of pepper spray up his nose.

“I still can’t believe something so awesome’s lasted so long and they haven’t made a museum out of it or something.”

“Yeah, well, take it up with the city council. They make a ton of money of tours, so they’ll probably tell you to shove ideas like ‘for public viewing’ up your ass. Right up there with racial and gender equality, and all that good stuff.”

Jason studied his profile (again).

“Sorry, that was a weird thing to say out of nowhere.”

“Weirdly heroic,” Jason shrugged. “I mean if you care that much, it’s no wonder you’ve got such a wide variety of friends.”

“You haven’t met my friends.”

“I’ve met Valdez and Beckendorf.”

“You’ve met _two_ of my friends.”

“Two out of _five_. I’ve met forty percent of your friends.”

“Rude,”

“The truth is harsh.” They stopped on the edge of an intersection, the city lights of the 9th right on the horizon. Soon the dim lights would grow to blinding billboards, and they’d find themselves at the heart of a world class city once more.

“Do you think anything’s still open at this time?” Jason checked his own crappy cell phone.

“Dude, it’s only ten thirty.”

“Where I used to live, everything closed at eight.”

“Sounds horrible.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” He insisted lightly.

“Well here, everything’s open right now. This is the best time to make money. What’re you in the mood for?” They began passing by pocket plazas, little curves in the blocks filled with eight to ten little shops that emanated delicious scents.

“I will eat anything,” Jason answered honestly.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Percy grinned.


	9. His Moans Were Quieter than Jason’s but Still Audible

**IX**

**His Moans Were Quieter than Jason’s but Still Audible**

Warning: strong language, panic symptoms.

 

“Oh my god,” the blond had bitten into the dough too early, burning the inside of his mouth with blood red tomato sauce, but the flavor of the pizza still made it to his charred buds. “Oh my _god_ ,” He said again, staring at the enormous slice in his plate like it was a gift from God.

“I know,” The blue streak replied, wisely waiting for his own piece to cool down. He rest his head in his palm, watching as the boy sitting across from him gulped down half his glass of water. “It’s insane.”

They were sitting at a table tucked in the corner of the narrow restaurant, lucky they even had a spot to sit down. Around them, larger parties struggled to fit five people to a bench, all crowding around the legendary deep dishes.

“And you’re saying this is, like, a basic pizza?”

“Yup.”

The blond bit in again, relishing the flavor of smoked tomato and cheese. “Can we get more?”

“Why not?” He finally tore off a chunk of his own slice, pulling it into his mouth like a professional. His food moans were quieter than Jason’s but were still audible. The pizza between them was finished in less than ten minutes.

Outside, a heavy rush of rain brought in around twenty more pedestrians seeking temporary shelter, soaking the customers who sat closer to the door.

“It’s a good thing we’re sitting back here,” Jason observed as a deft hand picked up the tray between them. “You come here a lot?” The fact that all of the four waiters stopped to converse with them had not gone unnoticed.

“I used to,” Percy nodded, uncrossing his legs under the table. “I know most of the people who work here because I took a part time job here a couple years ago.”

“…so do you cook?”

“A little.”

“Oh my god, can you make this pizza?” He pointed at the Four Cheese that had just been set between them.

“I’d need a pizza oven for that.”

“Can you make something similar?”

Percy dropped a slice of the sizzling pizza into his plate and licked his burning fingertips. “You want me to cook for you?”

“Can you?”

“I don’t know man, it’s nothing compared to this.” At Jason’s excited expression, Percy sighed. “Okay, sure. I can cook for you. When do you want to come?”

“To your apartment?”

Percy gave him an isn’t-that-obvious look. “Where else?”

“Oh, okay then,” _Cool._ Jason paused to take a bite and chew through his thoughts. Since he’d taken off half of rehearsal today he wouldn’t be able to miss _anything_ else until the first show. “Is opening night okay? Next Monday,” He specified. After the show – that’d be at around ten. Too late?”

“Well, I’m gonna be there anyway,” Percy shrugged. “We can just walk back in a group.”

“A group? Are you bringing someone?”

Percy choked on his pizza and dropped it in his plate. Jason hurriedly passed him a glass of water and the green eyed boy took it gratefully. “Sorry. It was hot,” he lied.

The blond seemed to have forgotten about his earlier question. “You know, when you said you’d hold me to that ‘anything’, I thought you were going to take me some place really wacked out.”

“I was,” Percy admitted. “There’s an escargot cart that hangs out in this square, but they weren’t here today. Next time,” He promised.

Jason shuddered at the thought of boiled snails, and gave a silent thanks to the cart owner who had not shown up today. They finished the second and third pizzas around closing time, pleasantly found out that it was on the house ‘For Percy and his friend’, and stepped outside under the umbrella-ed entrance.

“It’s really coming down,” Jason noticed, wishing he’d brought his umbrella. _I am such an idiot._ He looked to Percy for suggestions on what to do now, but he was staring out at the pouring rain with blank eyes.

“Percy?” When his voice didn’t reach the boy he put a hand on his shoulder.

Percy flinched unrestrainedly. Jason quickly retracted his arm. “Sorry,” The boy muttered, pushing back against the locked door behind them. “I don’t do well with rain.”

“It’s okay,” He replied, already looking around for some other sort of way home. The shops on this side of the street were lined with umbrella tops, so they’d be safe if they walked beneath them. “Let’s walk to the end of the street and see if we can get a taxi at the intersection,”

The black haired boy nodded absentmindedly, peeling himself off the wall and keeping a pace beside the taller blond. Jason made a point to walk on the street side, not worrying about the rain on his shoulder as much as he was about Percy.

They made it to the end of the intersection with their shoulders all but glued together, and found it completely devoid of people. The shops were all closed and the lights off, a dark pocket. They’d have to cross the street and get to the end of next block.

“Think you can?” He half turned to the shorter boy.

He didn’t look too willing.

“We can always just wait it out.”

But that would probably get them pneumonia or something. “Let’s cross,” Percy breathed, glancing at blue eyes before following them out from under the shelter.

It was a small three lane street that they began jogging across, and that twenty seconds was enough for Jason to be soaked through his jacket. And Percy’s wasn’t as thick as his own.

He turned around to check on the boy once they’d made it under the next entrance, and his breath caught.

Percy was dripping wet with cold rain, his hair clinging to his face and his shirt to his back. He was leaning against the brick wall beside them and held a hand over his mouth. His eyes, wide and dark, were shaking as irregularly as his breathing.

“Percy?” He tried the verbal approach again because he didn’t want to scare him again.

Percy heard him, and he was clearly trying to formulate a reply, but his words seemed to clog up in his throat and jam up his lungs, leaving him a silent mess struggling to just _breathe_.

“Percy, you know how I got the part for the show? I don’t think I told you this,”

Percy glanced up at him, confused for a second, and shook his head.

Jason pulled him a little more into shelter. “I was sixteen, seventeen in four days, and I was scared out of my mind. The auditions were for people eighteen and over because it was such an inappropriate play but I was determined to get the part. When I showed up, I was so nervous that I told the guy at the desk I was twenty years old.”

As he spoke, he slipped off his damp jacket and slowly set it on Percy’s shoulders. “He didn’t even look at me and just waved me through, and I stood in the line with actual twenty and thirty year olds, all of them who were singing and dancing right there with _intense_ skill. I kind of watched in awe for a while, until someone asked me what my name was and I almost shit my pants.”

Percy exhaled through his nose, giving the blond a ‘you would’ kind of look.

“They wanted people who were good at both singing and dancing and crazy energetic. ADD gave me exactly what I needed, along with plain talent,” He turned and began to walk, a light hand on Percy’s upper back to steer them forwards. “And I just went _all out_ when I got there. I thought I did awesome.

“Then callbacks happened, and the director asked me how old I was. ‘I’ll be eighteen soon.’ ‘How soon?’ ‘363 days, sir.’” He switched between voices, eliciting a chuckle out of his companion. “I thought they were going to kick me out right there, but they gave me a ‘special’ contract – all we had to do was put on the show when I actually _was_ eighteen, and that would be that.” He waved at the street once they made it to the end, catching the eye of one deathly fast taxi driver.

“Of course, my parents flipped their shit, but I thought it was finally time for me to live up to the family legacy of doing anything your parents tell you not to. And here I am.” They hopped the three steps and into the car just as Jason finished his tale.

“What did your parents do?” Percy asked, his speech returning to him.

“48th and 9th,” He told the driver, before turning back to his audience. “Well, like I said, they were both really pissed I auditioned, saying that ‘performing arts are for crazies’, and stuff like that. But, see, they said the same thing to my sister when she wanted to paint, until she got scouted in high school. And _then_ they started to take her dream seriously. So I figured, if Thalia can do whatever the crap she wants, maybe I’ll just get rich and famous and shove Broadway tickets in my parents’ faces.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They both laughed and, for now, the shaking in Percy’s hands stopped. Jason watched him for a moment, not wanting to say anything to ruin the short but pleasant moment. The crazy driver dropped them off under the swooping figure of the Hilton, taking his money and speeding away to (probably) maim some unfortunate pedestrian.

“Do you want to come inside until the rain lets up?” Jason asked, rolling up his wet sleeves. “My roommates want to meet you, anyway.”

Percy shrugged but followed him into the hotel, shrugging off the jacket once they’d made it into warmth. “Thanks for the jacket.”

“It was no problem.” He punched in the elevator button to the twenty fifth floor and leaned against one of the walls. “I totally forgot it was supposed to rain today and left my umbrella in the room.”

“Same,” Percy agreed, folding the wet jacket on his arm. Now it was soaked from the inside _and_ out – Jason would have to leave it out overnight. The elevator dinged open to a lobby full of people dressed to the nines and screaming excitedly at each other. They fell silent at the sight of new guests.

Percy subconsciously inched closer to Jason, unknowingly highlighting his identity to the mass.

“He’s _here?_ ” Someone broke the silence, and then they were being pulled out of the elevator and Percy was being touched _everywhere_. Who – who were all these—

 _“Guys,”_ Jason said, lightly pulling Percy out of the crowd by his elbow. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going out for a party, Jason,” came a soft reply, and a familiar girl stepped forwards from the side. Percy recognized her immediately.

“Beauregard?”

The actress smiled warmly. “Percy Jackson, meet the rest of the _Rent_! cast. Again.”

“Hi, Percy!” They chorused, waving in one collective jazz wave.

“Why are you guys all wet?” Silena asked, fingering Jason’s soaked collar. “Did you leave your umbrella in the room?”

Jason had the decency to look a little ashamed (“sorry, _mom_ ,”) but looked around at their outfits. “Is there a meeting or something? Do we all have to be there?”

“We’re just going to a club,” Someone replied. Half of the large group got into the elevator and waved their goodbyes as the doors shut.

“Are you two going to the room?”

“Yeah, is it open?”

Silena looked around behind her. “Yeah, the other two are already downstairs. You guys’ll have it all to yourselves.” Jason blushed at the comment, and she smiled. “Do you have the key?”

“Yeah,” His fingers closed around it in his pant pocket. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Bye Jason. Bye, Percy,” She waved as Jason lightly pulled Percy away from a gaping horde by his elbow, having never let go.

“Your friends are pretty cool,” Percy said, glancing back at the elevator room.

Jason laughed. “They’re a little hard to handle, but they’re all good people.” He slid the card in the lock and pushed open the lit room. “It’s a little dirty, but come on in.”

Percy awkwardly stepped in and set the coat on a wall hook, then ventured further through the hallway.

It quickly became clear that two girls and two boys shared the room – one bed was thrown open with black pajamas balled up on the pillow, and the other was nicely made with makeup case and (wow) underwear stacked on a suitcase to the side.

“I have extra clothes,” Jason offered after a moment, throwing open the doors to a tightly packed closet and pulling out folded pajamas.

“Hoping for a sleepover or something?” Percy grinned and took them gratefully, then went into the bathroom to change. Because they were two guys Percy might not have felt awkward about changing with the door open, but Jason immediately turned around and busied himself with tidying up the room (like throwing all that embarrassing underwear under the blanket).

“Hey, got a shirt?”

Jason didn’t turn around right then because that meant that Percy Jackson the bartender was standing in front of his bathroom in _nothing_ but pajama pants. He backtracked over to the closet and pulled out a t shirt for the boy to borrow, and couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering over his guest’s bare upper body when he turned to give it.

“Thanks,” Percy nodded and pulled it on right there. “You didn’t change yet?”

“Oh. Not yet,” He stood for a second, staring at Percy’s clothed torso, not really sure of what he’d seen, before snapping out of his mini daydream and pulling out a pair of pajamas for himself. “I’ll just be a sec,” He slipped around the smaller boy into the bathroom and changed in record time, tossing his wet clothes over the shower side to dry like Percy had.

When he got out, Percy was sitting on the guys’ bed, talking on the phone with someone. “Yeah… I’ll be back after it stops raining. Yeah. Just start without me. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I will. Okay,” Jason felt his lip quivering as annoyance began to creep into Percy’s voice. _“Gods_ , I’ll be fine. Bye. Yeah, bye. _Bye.”_

He turned off the phone just as the blond joined him in the room, sitting beside him on the bed. (Not too close, not on the other bed.) “Mom?”

Percy rolled his eyes and tossed the phone onto the bed behind him. “My neighbor. She’s worried I got mugged or something.” Jason laughed. “No, really, she thinks I’m completely helpless on my own.”

“Sounds like Silena. She’ll probably call in a little bit, wondering if we got to the room okay.”

The groaned in mutual understanding. “It’s like some kind of inherent need to care for someone.”

Jason blinked. “I never thought I’d hear _you_ say something sexist.”

The green eyed boy sighed. “I know. Karma’s going to get me back when I get home.” He glanced outside where rain pounded against glass walls to try and keep people awake. “I hope it lets up soon.”s

“Yeah.”

It didn’t.


	10. Did You Sleep With Him?

**X**

**Did You Sleep With Him?**

Warning: strong language, mentions of suicide.

 

“Did you sleep with him?”

The question echoed around the lobby, bouncing off walls and lobby-goers and the one secretary and the person it was directed to. The speaker jumped off the top of the stairs and landed in a kneeling position on the ground, before bouncing forwards and right in Percy’s path.

As if Percy hadn’t heard her, she repeated, “Did you slee—”

Percy cut her off with a hand to the face, pushing her out of his way to the secretary. “Hey, Chase.”

“Good morning, Percy.” At the start of a more normal conversation, the rest of the people milling about resumed doing whatever they were doing and stopped staring at Percy and the midget who had screamed the loudly inappropriate question. “Did you find a place to sleep?”

“Yeah,” He nodded, signing the sheet on the corner of her desk to show that he’d checked back in at the hotel. “I fell asleep when we were waiting for the rain to stop.” Her grey eyes flashed excitedly, and then he remembered that Thalia was still rubbing off on her. “I just woke up half an hour ago.”

“Those aren’t the clothes you left in yesterday,” She noted, leaning over the desk to check out the rest of Percy’s not-Percy-like outfit. “A button down and dress pants? You look very fashionable.”

He touched his collar, though the top two buttons were undone. “My clothes were still wet, so he offered me his own.”

“Such a gentleman.”

Thalia finally grabbed a firm hold of Percy’s flexible wrist and threw him off her face. “Don’t _do_ that.”

“Then don’t ask stupidly awkward questions.” He ran a hand through his bed head.

“But you showed up the morning after” Percy winced at her words, “wearing clothes that you most definitely _do not own_. What am I supposed to think?”

“I’m interested, too,” Annabeth sat forwards, her hands folded beneath her. “How did it go?”

He had to backtrack quite a bit to remember the morning events of yesterday. “We went to the City Hall Loop, and he really liked that.”

“They let you in? That’s amazing!”

Percy’s sheepish smile corrected her thinking. “And after, we got pizza. And then it was raining, so we walked outside, and got wet, and…” He trailed off, frowning at the memory. _And he stopped me from having a panic attack_. Holy shit.

“And?” Thalia was actually worried now, the crease in her brow furrowing.

Percy blinked back into reality. “And it was raining too hard, so we decided to hang out at his hotel until the storm let up.” He nodded, pleased with his bare summary of events.

“So you didn’t do the do?”

“No.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“No.”

“Did you kiss?”

“Why are you not in the least weirded out that you’re talking about your own brother?”

“Percy, we’ve already had this conversation.” She clenched and unclenched her hands in front of her. “Why are you so slow with making moves on people?”

Beside them, Annabeth’s phone vibrated twice on the table, calling all their attention. She leaned over to glance at it. “Reminder,” She explained. “Percy, Doctor…” She didn’t know his name. “Your handler came over for a visit earlier this morning.”

The boy frowned, and the blonde felt a little guilty for getting rid of the small smile. “Today? He just came over last Sunday.”

“I know, and that’s what I told him – he didn’t give me a reason, just told me to tell you to call him.”

Percy looked like he _really_ did not want to call him. “Okay,” He muttered. She wasn’t sure if he was actually going to call the doctor, but eh – she’d done her job. “Anything else?”

“That’s all.”

“Wait, but Percy,” Apparently Thalia had tuned out the change in topic. “It was raining – are you okay?”

“Yeah,” He replied easily. “Like I said, we went straight to his hotel, so we didn’t stay in wet clothes or anything like that.” Clearly that was not what she was asking about, so before she could press him he added, “He’s coming over on Monday night.”

_“Really?”_

He was really getting good at fixing his neighbor’s moods.

“Wait, Annabeth, isn’t that when your girlfriend’s flying in? We can have a party, or something!”

“You have a girlfriend?” Stopping the question there was a little too homophobic for his taste. “Who’s flying in? Wait, what?”

She grinned like she knew his entire train of thought (and considering the genius’ aura she emitted, she probably did) and nodded. “She’s transferring here for college, but she wanted to come in early and watch the musical. We’re all going together.”

“That’s awesome. Wait, shit.” He hadn’t bought a ticket yet.

“Did you not buy a ticket yet?”

He made a strange face. That action alone was enough to bemuse the girls. “No.”

“I figured,” She leaned to her left and dug something out of one of the drawers, then handed him one of two envelopes. “I got you one when we were buying ours.”

He took it gratefully, then surprised her by leaning over for a half hug. “You’re a life saver,” He laughed, tucking the envelope in his back pocket.

She pat his back. “I know.”

“Do I get a hug?” Thalia cut in, destroying the moment.

He pulled back and raised an eyebrow at the girl a head and a half shorter than him. “You haven’t done anything hug-worthy.”

“I haven’t beat you up for ditching out on the movie last night,” She put her hands on her hips. “Come over here, Jackson.” She held out her arms expectantly. With a sigh he slid into them, crushing her and lifting her off the ground like a child. “Your hugs are the best,” She squeaked.

“You’ve never had one,” He replied, not sounding strained at all. A familiar snapping sound from his right caught his attention and he turned to glare at the blonde mid hug. “Delete that.”

“Gods, I just can’t believe you aren’t actual siblings.” She ignored him and set her phone back on the desk, picture stored away safely.

“We might be soon,” Thalia turned, too. The comment earned her a drop from his arms of about half a foot, but she was prepared for it and landed on her feet. “I’m so excited for the musical. I can’t tell you how excited I am.” It was bubbling out of her, and she kept shifting from leg to leg like a child.

Percy brought a hand down on her head softly for no reason. He stared at it for a second, wondering why the heck he’d just done that, then looked at Annabeth as if she might have the answer. She shrugged with an I-dunno expression.

“What?”

“Nothing, Thalia.”

_“Wha-at?”_

Trust her to latch onto something until she got the answer. “Alright, I need to go take a shower and put the ticket somewhere safe before I lose it. Laters,” He waved with his free hand, patted the midget’s head softly, and then headed over to the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, Annabeth turned to Thalia. “He’s in _love_ ,” She sang quietly, biting her lip to keep from smiling. “I mean, he _will_ be. Soon. It’s so cute.”

Thalia, however, was happy for a completely different reason. “He _hugged_ me,” She whispered, sounding completely in awe. He actually gave me a full body contact hug. This is a landmark day.”

“I _know_ ,” Annabeth agreed. “He just leaned over and – and I was frozen for a second, like ‘holy crap. Is the no-touch kid from upstairs _hugging_ me?’ Took him two months to get that far. I’m surprised.” _But really, really happy._

“You don’t know _how_ worried I was last night,” She leaned in close to Annabeth suddenly, staring straight at the concealer hastily dotted beneath the blonde’s eye, probably to hide bags. “I take that back. You know _exactly_ how worried I was.”

Annabeth gave a tired smile. “I studied here until two and he _still_ wasn’t back.”

Thalia leaned over to pat her arm affectionately and sat on he edge of the desk. “It started raining and it was just one of those ‘oh shit’ moments. But he said that Jason took him to the apartment, so.” She paused. “My brother must’ve helped him out or something.” She bit her lip. “He could, and he would.”

“He can deal with situations like those?” The grey eyed student rested her chin on her palm.

“Yeah, he. He has before, when I lived at the house. I had a couple of incidents.”

Annabeth nodded, silently letting the shorter girl know that she didn’t have to continue any further. “I recently found out that it’s something a lot of people who hang around Percy are learning to deal with, now.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Leo,” She said, of all people. “Valdez. He gave me his number, and then found out I had a girlfriend. And then he told me to keep it anyway, in case I got bored of girls.” She grinned at the memory. “Both he and the other waiter – Beckendorf? – learned in the last year how to work people out of attacks, but they told me they haven’t had to use what they’ve learned. Thankfully.”

“I hope they never have to,” She hoped against hope. Checking the time on her phone, she hopped off the desk and brushed herself off. “I’ll be late for a date if I stay any longer. See you later, Annabeth.”

“Bye, Thalia,” The blonde waved, then flipped open her textbook to finish that week’s chapter of Physics studies. _Damn architecture prerequisites._

 

**_P_ **

 

_“Hello?”_

“Why did you come today?”

_“Ah, Patrick. Good to see Miss Chase passed along my message.”_

“…”

_“I came to stop by for an extra check. I received a call that you went awfully close to the edge of your permitted dwelling zone, worrying your other handlers.”_

“As you can hear, I already got back.”

_“I understand that, but I will still need to meet with you in person. Is tomorrow morning alright?”_

“No.”

_“I will be there by eleven, Phillip. Please find yourself awake by then. Goodb—”_

**_P_ **

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, Thals.”

_“Percy! What’s wrong?”_

“Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to ask – what are you doing right now?”

_“I’m getting ready for group… why?”_

“I. Can I. I want to go, too.”

_“…are you sure?”_

“No.”

_“…I’ll come by when I finish changing.”_

“Okay.”

_“You don’t have to force yourself.”_

“Okay.”

_“See you in half an hour.”_

“Yeah.”

**_P_ **

He was sitting in front of her door when she opened it, rubbing his eyes so much he was seeing spots.

She almost walked right into him. “Woah.”

He dropped his hands to his sides. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He hadn’t taken a shower, she noticed. When it became clear he was going to go with her, “Alright. Let’s go.”

They took the elevator, something that would usually surprise him, but he was too busy with his own thoughts to notice. Annabeth waved a quiet goodbye to the both of them, knowing that evident surprise in her voice was not something they needed right now, and watched them pass through the doorway.

The walk was silent, too. He followed her like an obedient child, walking when she walked, stopping when she stopped. His gaze remained ever focused on the place he would step next. They arrived at the center in half an hour, with Percy’s stomach suddenly in his throat. Thank _god_ he hadn’t eaten anything before coming.

“Alright,” She muttered, slipping her small hand into his larger one. He didn’t look at her, but he held onto it tightly. They climbed the steps and walked in, the last ones to enter before the group leader himself. Grover, Percy remembered.

“Good evening, everyone! It’s great to see _all_ of you here, it really is. On my way over here, I walked by a sign…” and he began to spin them a soft story. Percy wasn’t sure it had any sort of significance, but it captured his interest anyway, and he was oddly satisfied with the ambiguous ending. The guy knew how to do his job.

As he spoke about other things, people began to speak up and join him, breaking slowly into an actual discussion. Grover didn’t pick on anyone to speak, didn’t out anyone on the spot, but listened when someone requested the attention.

Neither Percy nor Thalia spoke, but she rubbed slow circles with her thumb on the outside of his hand, and he held it tightly. Surprisingly, he made it through the hour alive, without having to leave the room because his mind wanted to choke his lungs.

“Thank you for coming, all of you,” Grover called as each person returned the farewell and headed wherever they wanted to go. He looked over at the last two stragglers, one who was staring at the other, the other staring at the ground. “Thanks for coming, Thalia. And Percy.”

The taller boy looked up at that, with some of the brightest viridescent eyes Grover had ever seen, making the leader wonder why the boy had ended up _here_. “Yeah,” He said, standing. Thalia stood with him, giving the shorter boy a small smile. Percy shook his hand with a trained firm grasp, and with a wave from the rocker they both were gone.

“It wasn’t. As bad today,” Percy breathed, slowly but still regularly.

“Yeah.” Was all she said. The entire time she had been thinking about his sudden call, his decision to come to the support group today. She hadn’t asked him or even mentioned it _once_ since the first and last time they had gone, purely out of fear of a repetition of the event. But he had wanted to come himself.

“My mom.”

She almost didn’t catch it but _when she did_ , she gave him only the softest silence she could muster. He seemed to be struggling with his words, just like he always had whenever something of his ‘time before the Lodge’ was brought up, and she was dying of curiosity and concern but _could not push him._

“She,” he swallowed. She wanted to tell him not to force himself, but knew that would only shut him up. “She also,” He stopped and pointed back at the center with their adjoined hands. When he made eye contact, the words flowed a little easier. “She also, needed it.”

 _Needed what?_ “To go to support group?”

A slow nod. “Yeah.”

They stood on the sidewalk and stared back at the double doors of the center, completely unaware of each other’s thoughts. The last two things they said to each other replayed over and over in her mind and she had to stop herself from gaping at him.

He gripped her hand a little tighter, pulling her out of her inner turmoil, and then they both turned to return to the Lodge.


	11. Do You Have Eczema?

**XI**

**Do You Have Eczema?**

Warning: strong language.

 

“I heard you went to support group yesterday.”

Percy’s head snapped up, his emerald green eyes tinged with venom.

“And before you ask, it wasn’t Miss Grace who told me this time, or even the last time. Grover Underwood, the support leader, is required to inform all guardians of the group members of their attendance. It is a part of his job.”

Percy remained forward in his posture, not willing to back down to the hellish doctor even if things had been cleared up.

“Did it go well?”

“I’m sure you already know that.”

“Glad to hear it.” He gave a small professional smile. “I see the rest of your boxes have disappeared. You’ve unpacked them?”

“Yes,” The boy lied.

Dionysus picked up the pen, but only to write down the opposite of what Percy had said. “Is there any reason you keep them boxed up? Are there too many memories packed in for your still young self to handle?” He knew that was one of Dionysus’ more humorless questions, but it felt condescending nonetheless.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had time, I guess.”

“You’ve never been good at making excuses.”

“And you would know that because…?”

“Your old files from the detention center were all transferred to me upon your release. Your previous handler was quite thorough in his notes.”

“ _Her_ notes,” Percy corrected despite himself. “Yeah, she took a lot.”

“Well, you are an extreme case.” He glanced behind Percy, at the open bedroom door. “Still having trouble taking showers?” He didn’t wait for a reply. “These past two days must have been terrible for you, with all the rain.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” The blue streak mumbled quietly.

“Oh?” That sent his pen flying across the page. “How so? Did you find some way to cope?”

“‘Cope’? I don’t need to ‘cope’ with anything – it’s just an irrational dislike,” He recited the definition he’d gotten off of dictionary.com.

“But it only sprung up when you were about sixteen years old, correct? You were still a swimmer in your high school then, had been a swimmer since your elementary years.” Yellowed eyes searched evasive green. “You were the fastest on your team.”

Percy shrugged. “I got bored of it.”

“You’ve never been good at lying, either.” He seemed like he wanted to press the matter further, but they’d already been going at it for two and a half hours. “I think that’s enough for this week,” He stood and let himself out with a professional farewell.

Thalia bounced into the room the moment the doctor had vacated it. “You guys took for _ever_.”

Percy ran a hand through his hair. “I know, he just had so many _questions_.” He stood. “I need to take a shower.”

“Okay,” She nodded, hopping down onto the blue couch. “And then you need to feed me.”

“Where’s Reyna been, by the way?”

“Busy, studying for music auditions into higher classes.”

“Ohh,” He called from the bathroom, turning on the hot water. “Everyone’s busy working for college, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to try? Wait, you said next semester, right?”

“I still have to work on general ed,” She nodded even though he couldn’t see. “But after that, I’m going to go into art.”

“That’s good,” He left the door open just a crack as the conversation continued.

“You don’t sound surprised,” She said suspiciously.

“I don’t know, I thought you were into fashion or something, but Jason told me you were a painter.”

“He told you that?”

“Yeah.”

“What else did he tell you about me?”

“Um,” He sat on the toilet cover, staring into the water. “You’ve been a phenomenal oil painter since you were in middle school, your parents were against it, until you got really popular and they began to support you. And then you left the house, or something.”

She didn’t reply.

“Thals?”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, nothing, just checking if you’re still there.”

“Just take your shower, Percy.”

He turned to look back at the running water and stared, and stared and stared. It took him six minutes to realize that he wouldn’t be getting in at this moment and another to force himself to turn off the tap. He came out of the bathroom in cleaner clothes.

“What’s all this?” She stood when he emerged from the bedroom. Her hands brushed off his shirt, coming into contact with thin skin colored flakes. “Do you have eczema?”

“No,” He pulled up the sleeve on his right arm, exposing more skin flaking off. “It’s the cover spray. I have to reapply it every other day, or it’ll start flaking off like that.” He ran a hand over his skin and the flakes came off like dust, revealing patches of colored ink.

“Is that why your skin’s so rough?” She rubbed his wrist with her thumb, then stared down at the corner of an intricate black tattoo. “Where else do you have tattoos?”

“Everywhere.” She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Arms, chest, back, neck… everywhere on my upper body.”

“You must love getting inked.”

“Not really.”

She frowned as he pulled down the sleeve, covering up the ink again. “What do you want to eat?” She shrugged. “I don’t have much in the fridge right now,” he checked, “So we’ll have to go out and buy some food. Want to come?”

“Yes,” She hopped out the doorway, Percy following her while shutting the door behind him. He sent her a mental thanks for not bringing up his lack of a shower, knowing she probably wanted to say something but didn’t.

“What’s happening?” Annabeth took a moment to look up from her homework and greet the pair tumbling out of the elevator.

“We’re buying breakfast. Or lunch. We’re buying brunch. Is there anything you want in specific?” The blond shrugged. “Okay, we’ll be back in…” Percy checked his phone, “Probably and hour. I don’t think we’ll need much for jus three people.” He smiled at her and rushed outside, where Thalia had already waved down their ride.

“72nd and Broadway,” Thalia called to the taxi driver as Percy climbed in after her. “I like the bigger one,” She explained.

“It’s so far away.”

“There’s more diversity.”

“What are you making me cook? I’m actually a little worried now.”

“I don’t know yet, we’ll see what’s there first.”

 

**_P_ **

 

“This is _way_ too much,” Percy groaned, setting down the four bags of food Thalia just _had_ to buy.

She set her two down beside his and stretched openly. “Now we won’t have to go grocery shopping for a while. _And_ we won’t have to have any more of your ‘mystery soup’ when Reyna and Annabeth’s girlfriend come over.” She looked over at him. “I _assume_ you’re cooking dinner.”

“Yeah, I am,” He rubbed his neck, picking up the bags as their walk sign lit up for street crossing. “What’s Chase’s girlfriend’s name?”

“ _I_ don’t know, I’ve never met her. When I met Annabeth, the girl was already back in Seattle or something.” The shorter girl stood behind Percy, her shield from people walking in the opposite direction. “But she’s probably awesome, if Annabeth’s dating her.”

“Are there any heteros living at the Lodge?”

“Why?”

“Just asking.”

“Well, yeah. There are only like ten queers in the entire building, Percy.” They paused for another break, setting the bags down in the shade in front of a dance studio. “How many people have you met yet?”

“Just you and Chase.”

Thalia laughed immediately. “No one else?”

“I’m not really the most social person living there, if you haven’t noticed.”

“I did, but I thought you might at least have talked to the other people on our floor. Not everyone who stays at the Lodge has mental problems, you know – the location is epic, so we have some other families living there, too.”

“Well, who else lives on our floor, then?” He leaned back against the door to the studio, lighting a cigarette for himself.

“In 401, there’s a really nice single mom with the cutest little second grader _ever_. And in 403, you have a college kid a couple years older than us, but he’s almost always on his campus.”

“That explains why I’ve never bumped into any of them.” He exhaled in her direction and she dodged the cloud like it was poisonous.

“When did you start smoking, Percy?”

That wasn’t completely random. “Uh, sophomore year,” He frowned. “I think.”

“No one stopped you?”

“No one found out.”

She briefly wondered how that could be possible, but then her eyes focused on the window of the door Percy was leaning on. “Wait, move over a sec.” She plastered herself to it to look inside. Percy pulled the door open a crack and a deafening chorus streamed out.

_“We’re not gonna pa—”_

Thalia shut it quickly and quietly, then grinned widely. “Dude, that’s the cast.”

 _What cast?_ But then he peeked inside and recognized the excited and zealous faces of the crowd who’d housed him the night before. “Holy crap.” He turned away from the door and dragged their bags out of view. “I didn’t even put on the spray today,” He glared down at his hands.

She joined him with the rest of the bags and grinned brightly. “You are so cute.”

He refocused his glare on her.

“Are you trying to hide your tattoos from him?”

He rolled his emerald eyes. “I don’t feel the need to flaunt them right now.”

“That was a terrible lie.”

“It wasn’t a lie; do you think Chase or Reyna have seen them when you just found out an hour ago?” She couldn’t argue with that. He rubbed his arm absentmindedly. “But it’s really annoying, and freaking expensive.”

“I think they look awesome.”

“You haven’t seen them.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have anything weird tattooed across your chest, Percy. You should just stop covering them up. Honestly.”

“Thanks, but no.”

“Why even _get_ tattoos if you’re not going to show them off?”

He rolled his eyes and picked up the bags again. “Let’s get these home before they rot in the sun.”

 

**_P_ **

 

Late, late, _late_ lunch was spent watching a Disney movie (Ratatouille) while eating a French dish ( _also_ ratatouille), courtesy of Thalia’s extensive movie collection and Percy’s kitchen. Annabeth had to return to the desk at the same time that Percy had to go to work (to make up hours from the day before, again) and Thalia had to go to her group.

The rest of the week was spent much the same way, with a halt of contact between the trio and their respective partners. They mourned the temporary deaths of their love lives (well, the girls did) with ice cream in Percy’s apartment, living there for the time.

“Just go to Thalia’s room.”

“We’re already here.”

“Why are you so intent on kicking us out?”

“Isn’t there some separation thing? Girls sleep separately from boys?”

“We’ve all got more important things to worry about than society’s expectations,” Annabeth muttered into _Percy’s_ pillow. The girls had occupied his bed, leaving him the horizontal space just past their short legs. “Sleep now, talk later.”

With a grunt he hopped onto the bed, succumbing to sleep (but only temporarily. (Or so he told himself.) They ended up spending the rest of the week there, until Monday morning of the next week.

“I’m going to the airport,” Annabeth announced, bubbling with excitement as she hurried out of the apartment. She’d spent the whole day yesterday picking out the right clothes to pick up her girlfriend in (which was completely out of character, from what they knew) until this morning she occupied his bathroom for two hours (not that he was going to use it, anyway).

Thalia herself left soon after to pick Reyna up from her last audition of the semester and to pick out her own outfit for the night. “I hope she got in,” She managed with a mouthful of toothpaste. Percy only grunted around his own toothbrush in reply, before she repeated the statement for the thousandth time.

Percy ate his first solitary brunch in a long time, finishing up reheated leftovers from the night before. Now that his mother hens were gone, he could lean against the counter and eat right out of the tupper-ware (something they had absolutely _abhorred_ ).

He spent a little over three hours (not bad, in his opinion) getting all the ingredients he needed ready in the fridge and the oven and the microwave and everything else in the apartment that could cook, and then found himself again with nothing to do.

He checked his phone once, and then checked it again. Then he went to the bathroom and checked it a third time. When he realized how obsessive he was being he tossed the phone along with the rest of his clothes in a pile on the (for the first time in forever) made bed.

Trying the new approach Thalia had dumped on him the night before (after a couple of hours of research on his laptop), he tried to wash one limb at a time in cold water. It was strange at first, but rubbing himself with a towel helped with the actual cleaning. By the time he’d finished with his extremities, the towel had been dyed the color of his skin.

She was right – it was the tub itself that he couldn’t handle, even though he knew it couldn’t actually do anything to him, especially when not filled. He wrung out the towel a couple of times before washing the rest of his body, his mirror image peeling back every tattoo for him to see.

When he was finished, he tossed the towel in the tub (he could deal with that later) and wrapped his spare around his waist. He had only one spray bottle left, his cabinet informed him, and so he took care of the most obvious places first – the hands, arms, neck and collar. And then the bottle fizzled empty.

“Fuck.” He pulled the top open but it truly had been bled dry, leaving his inked torso out for the world to see. He guessed it was probably him getting jinxed from talking about it so many times today.

From the closet he dug out a plain white baseball shirt that covered the inked areas and black pants, not really sure of what he was supposed to wear to an event like this.

_“Hey there,”_

“Thalia. What do I wear?”

_“Do you have a tux?”_

“Not with me, no.”

 _“Urg. Um, dress shirt, tie? Black pants.”_ He dug around through the closet, all the way to the back, where he found a exactly what she was looking for. He paused in front of the outfit. _“You still there?”_

“Yeah, um. Is a grey dress shirt okay?”

_“Of course! Did you find something?_

“Yeah,” As he spoke, he switched into the pants and pulled the dress shirt over the baseball tee. A second layer should hide the color well. “Can you tie my tie?”

 _“You don’t know how to tie a tie?”_ He could hear the eye roll in her voice. _“Alright. Just bring it with you when you get here. You know the address, right?”_ He recited it to her. _“See you then, Percy. And don’t be so nervous – you’re not the one on the stage.”_

“Yeah.”


	12. The Circle of Girls Determined to Ruin Percy’s Social Life

**XII**

**The Circle of Girls Determined to Ruin Percy’s Social Life**

Warning: strong language.

 

“You look amazing,” Both blue streaks chorused upon finding each other.

Thalia laughed. “Thanks. It took me forever to find something awesome to wear.” She brushed some miniscule dust off the shoulder of her purple gown, grinning brighter than he’d ever seen her. “I’m so excited to see him, you don’t even know. Alright, where’s your tie?”

He handed the black cloth to her, bending down so that she could reach all the way around his neck. He took the time to continue gaping at the glittering world that was the lobby of a theater around them. “No wonder my mom liked them so much,” He mumbled to himself.

“Theaters, you mean?” Thalia let him stand up straight so that she could center and tighten the tie. “There. Gods, if only you wore this more often. Except, I’m guessing you ran out of body spray.” She tapped her collar and he touched his own, gasping silently at the feel of his own skin. “It’s okay, the tie’ll cover it up.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“Reyna’s already in the orchestra pit, and Annabeth and co are running a little late. They’ll be here _right_ when the show starts.”

“Cutting it a little close?” He smiled at the doorkeep as she scanned his ticket and let him in. “Holy crap, it’s huge.” And it was positively stadium sized with row after elevated row of plush red seats and glowing patrons occupying them.

“Come on, we’re in the third row. Thank Reyna’s connections,” She grinned. They slid into the center of the row, with the two spots to Thalia’s left reserved for the pair soon to join them. “I am so excited, I need to break something.”

He offered her his hand and she accepted it, squeezing his fingers methodically while he kept shaking his leg. Gods, ADHD was a bitch. “When is it supposed to start?”

“Right—” The lights dimmed halfway through the syllable, shushing the crowd in an instant. “—now,” She whispered, gripping his hand tightly.

“No one’s dying,” He whispered back, earning a sharp pinch to the thigh.

The curtain flew open and the play began with a song (as most musicals do), led by a broke blond whose monologue pretty much summed up the inner workings of anyone who lived in Manhattan. Less than thirty seconds later, the person the blue streaks were here to see continued with his own verse of the song.

Thalia squeezed his hand as if to say, “That’s him! There he is!” He squeezed back, telling her he was just as excited, and just as mesmerized by him as the rest of the audience was.

The play proceeded with some sort of single line plot (that was probably _very_ interesting) detailing the lives of the seven main characters following their evictions, but Percy was mostly concerned with the fact that twenty feet in front of him, the blond was laughing and crying and dancing and holy _shit_ he could sing. And he was thinking about why the _hell_ the actor had given him his number almost a month ago.

The one time his thoughts drifted away from the blond was when his neighbor squeezed his hand and whispered, “Here it comes,” right before one of the most devastating deaths Percy had ever seen in a story was acted out.

“Stop laughing,” He growled, holding a sleeve to his right eye. _“Stop.”_

The play ended with a bigger bang than the one it had started with (although there was a clear absence of the character that had died a few scenes prior, Percy noticed), with all the cast members running into the audience to belt out the last note. Jason was three feet away at that moment.

The lights dimmed as the curtain flew shut, and the trance was broken.

Percy stood and stretched, subtly angling his face away from the midget beside him so that he could wipe it when his arms came down.

“Aww, Percy, you’re so cute.”

“Shut _up._ ”

She laughed, leading the way out of the row. “Annabeth and her girl went ahead. You took too long wiping your tears.” When he opened his mouth to deny the accusation, “Your eyes and nose are still red. And you’re _sniffling_. Don’t even try.”

His mouth fell shut and then he noticed that they were _still_ holding hands. Wow. That was probably the longest he’d touched someone in a really, really long time.

“There they are,” Thalia waved over at a pair and Percy’s heart almost _stopped._

“Oh my god,” He stopped, jerking Thalia back along with him. But the dark haired girl had already noticed them and, though her expression mirrored Percy’s, her legs actually carried her to the green eyed boy. “Oh my _god_ ,” He said again, unaware of anything but _Annabeth’s girlfriend_. “Piper,”

“Percy? Oh my go — _Percy_? Percy?” She repeated his name two, three, four times, her arms coming to wrap around him in a tight hug that didn’t feel tight _enough_ , and then he was returning it with the same urgency, her name on his lips to whisper into her hair. She still smelled like the same vanilla.

Thalia and Annabeth stood to the side, forgotten.

The brunette pulled back to look at him, her face wet, her mouth breaking into a laugh. She kissed his cheeks, his eyelids, his forehead. “Percy, Percy Jackson.” She pulled back, _finally_ remembering her girlfriend, and laughed again. “It looks like you already know each other. Annabeth, this is my cousin.” She sniffed and then hugged the blonde to get some of the emotional stress out of her.

“You have a cousin?” Thalia looked between Percy and Piper, still a little shocked by the intensity of their meeting. “Wait, wow – this is a _lot_ to get slapped in the face with at once.”

“You’re dating my cousin,” Percy looked at Annabeth with a smile in his eyes. “Figures everyone I know’s a little bent.”

“I can’t believe you’re _here_ ,” Piper breathed, running a hand over his cheek. She seemed to be aware of his dislike of body contact and did not prolong her touch. “When did you get out? And where are you now? And how is everyone back at—”

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” Annabeth put a hand on Piper’s waist. “But let’s hold off on them until we get to eat something.”

“And here comes the other bombshell now,” Thalia announced, as one of the main characters of the show exited the doors and jogged to evade the mob outside. “Let’s get home.”

 

**_P_ **

 

“Welcome,” Percy mumbled under his breath, pushing open the door for the group behind him to fall in. They shuffled in in pairs – the ones who’d already been there tossing themselves onto his couches, and the pair that had never visited looking around and taking in every single detail.

“It’s so big,” Piper commented, sitting down beside the blond on the blue couch. “But where’s all your stuff?”

“I haven’t finished unpacking,” Percy called. “Alright, you all hang out, and I’ll start bringing out the food.”

As expected, the moment he went to the kitchen Piper followed him, and Jason pounced on his older sister. “Where have you been? Mom and dad were so worried! Are you okay? Have you been eating well?” Both of them bombarded their others with questions.

“Good, sorry, yes, and yeah.” Percy called over his shoulder at the brunette standing behind him. “Okay, can you pull out literally every dish in the fridge and help me move the stuff to the living room?”

“Yes, but. When did you get out?” She pulled out two big bowls and followed him to the living room, where they set out a sheet on the floor and everything onto the sheet.

“Two months ago, about.”

“What have you been doing since then?”

“Living here,” Percy handed her one of two pots, picking up the other with his own hands. “Working, eating, sleeping. Living the simple life.”

“You didn’t think to call?”

The question was asked in front of an audience, and they fell into an accidental silence. Percy swallowed and set down the pot. “No.”

“Why?” She knew why, she _clearly_ knew why, but she wanted to force it out of him anyway. Jason and Thalia had hit it off and were goofing off already, whereas Piper and Percy’s reunion had been a train wreck. “Why couldn’t you just – just call me?”

Percy almost dies of relief when Annabeth put a hand on the brunette’s wrist, pulling her onto the ground. The emerald eyed resident didn’t make eye contact with _anyone_ in the silence, staring at the ground.

Piper herself was the one to break it, sounding more confused than upset. “Percy, how much food did you _make_?” The question called the attention of the other four, who looked down at the feast before them and burst into laughter.

“I got overexcited,” Percy admitted, running a hand through his hair. “Now since I don’t have a table yet, we’re going to have to picnic style this.” In one fluid motion they shifted from couch to floor around the sheet, the heavy mood forgotten.

“You made _pasta_?” Thalia asked after four helpings. Percy rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, how did you cook this?”

He glanced at the pots holding the layered deep dishes. “I borrowed a blowtorch from downstairs.” Piper choked and the rest stared, but Percy’s face revealed nothing. “Is it good?”

“Yaf,” Thalia affirmed with a mouthful of cheese.

Piper touched Percy’s knee with her elbow, making eye contact with him for just a second. A second was all Percy needed, and then he could dig into the food more wholeheartedly.

“So, Jason,” Thalia’s eyes flashed and Percy felt a twinge of fear in the pit of his stomach. “What do you think about tattoos?”

It was Percy’s turn to choke, but more silently. He was interested in the answer, too.

“What _about_ tattoos?”

“I mean, do you like them? I don’t remember any of your old girlfriends having tattoos.”

The blond blushed, earning a hummed ‘aww’ from the gathering. “That was in _high school_. And, I mean, I don’t think it matters? If the person’s cool, then they’re cool.”

“Is there a limit to the _number_ of tattoos you’d want to see on a person?” Reyna joined in.

“Why are we having this conversation?”

“Reference,” The sister and her girlfriend explained.

“Uh… I don’t know,”

“Like one or two? Or four? What if they had four tattoos?”

Percy was positively dying. Piper shot him a questioning look, but after a few whispers from the blue streak to her right, understanding dawned in her eyes. Percy really hoped that that didn’t mean Piper and Thalia would become good friends, because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to live peacefully from then on.

“What if their upper body was just _covered_ in tattoos?” The brown eyed girl asked, and Percy excused himself to get some more water.

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not an answer, little bro.”

“I mean – do they like getting them? If they like them, then why shouldn’t I?”

“What if their chest is just _covered_ in pinup girls?”

“…I don’t see why they’d be going after me, then,”

Percy’s chuckle could be heard from the kitchen, rippling and clear. He mentally thanked his high school self for not indulging in chest pinup girls, before sitting back down in the circle of girls determined to ruin his social life.

“What’s your favorite color?” Trust Piper to ask such a completely random question, but Jason took it in stride.

“Green.”

Just that word sent grins flying around the room.

“What _shade_ of green?”

“Uh. Emerald green?”

“Oh, like,” She pointed to the boy sitting beside her, “Percy’s eyes’ green?”

Percy blinked and looked across the dishes at Jason, who was putting a fist in front of his mouth and staring intently back. “Yeah, I think so.”

“And Percy’s favorite color is blue, like _Jason_ ’s eyes. That is _so_ funny.” Reyna deadpanned, finishing off the last of her plate’s tomatoes. The girls laughed. Jason and Percy didn’t look at each other.

“I’m so glad I can get food like this for free,” Thalia leaned back against the couch behind her, taking a break from eating. “Percy, be my butler.”

“But wait, there’s more,” Percy stood, earning a lazy but still very excited sort of noise from his female counterpart. “I’ll just go get it, one sec.”

He went into the kitchen and pulled open the oven to check on the one dish still inside. The smell quickly alerted him of its fully cooked-ness, and he pulled out the just barely-passable-as-deep-dish pizza from the oven. He dropped the tray on eh counter when red sauce dripped onto his fingers, almost burning him.

“Ouch,” he muttered, bringing one of the sauce covered fingers to his mouth and sucking it clean. He turned around to get to the sink and almost whammed into Jason, who just barely caught him by the shoulders. “Whoa,”

“Sorry,” Jason hurriedly let go. “Sorry,” He repeated.

“It’s all good,” Percy waved off, licking the rest of his fingers. He leaned back and pulled himself onto the countertop beside the pizza. “I’m just waiting a minute for it to cool down.”

Blue eyes focused on the dish and then widened. “Deep dish?”

Percy gave a sly grin before laughing. “Yup. But the texture might be different, since I cooked it in a closed oven instead of an actual, professional one. Don’t get too excited.”

“I’m excited.” Jason’s gaze returned to the smaller boy. After a moment he hesitantly stepped a little closer, lowering his voice. “Thank you.” He glanced around, also gesturing to the laughter in the living room. “For all of this.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Jason gave a small smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

(Was he nervous?)

“It means a lot. To both of us, me and Thalia.”

Percy only returned the warm smile, his hands fixing themselves in a comfortable position on the counter on either side of him. There wasn’t anything for him to say in addition to accepting the stage actor’s thanks, and so he didn’t waste any words.

They watched each other.

The blond had no more words, no more inner thoughts to say, and neither did the blue streak, so they just reveled in their small silence.

Jason broke it by exhaling, releasing the tension in his shoulders, and finally leaning forwards into Percy’s space. Percy exhaled in the same instant that the blond’s lips made contact with his own and his fingers loosened their hold on the counter’s edge.

When he wasn’t pushed away Jason closed the distance, fixing himself between the (temporarily) taller boy’s legs and setting his hands on the counter on either side. After a moment he flicked Percy’s bottom lip with his tongue and the boy sighed into the blond’s mouth. His right hand rested on Jason’s, pushing down hard.

When he pulled back, completely flushed, he found Percy staring at his lips like he _really_ wanted to keep going. But with his long lost sister in the next room…

“Tomato,” Jason tasted, licking his lips.

Percy glared at the pizza beside him, cursing it for existing at that moment. “You’ll get a better piece later.”

Jason blushed involuntarily at the statement while the green eyed boy picked up the pizza tray with forefingers and thumbs and quickly got it to the food sheet(?) in the living room.

“What took you so long?” Reyna didn’t break eye contact with the tray as it was set down before her.

“Jason wanted a taste.” Percy licked his bottom lip while the blonde sat down beside his sister, working down the burn in his cheeks.


	13. A Radioactive Element In Need Of Constant Caging and Supervision

**XII**

**A Radioactive Element In Need Of Constant Caging and Supervision**

 

Warning: strong language. Sequences of a panic attack. Mentions of suicide.

 

“You two are so cute together.”

Percy dropped the dish into the sink mid scrub and thanked the gods that it didn’t break. He glared over his shoulder at the girl who _dared_ to wake up and make so much noise so early in the morning. “Let me wash my dishes in peace.”

“Percy, Percy,” The short girl was doing a horrible job of hiding her grin, “I do believe he’s the best thing that’s happened to you in a long, _long_ time.”

“Go away.”

“You didn’t used to let me do this before,” She put a soft hand on his forearm, calling his gaze. “And now you’re giving me hugs and holding my hand for hours. I’m super excited and happy, and now I know the source.” He looked back down at the sudsy sink. “He likes you a lot.”

Percy paused at that, not looking at her but not looking at anything else, either. Then he exhaled and kept rinse rinse rinsing.

She moved onto girly-er details. “Did you kiss?” She didn’t wait for a reply, not yet. “You know, I hate how you’ve turned me into some fourteen year old. Now I’m just waiting for my one true pairing to get together forever and ever, and not even to do the _do_. I’m just waiting for you to make lip contact, now.”

He didn’t say anything, only scrubbed his dishes.

She verbally tackled him from behind, almost making him drop the same plate again. “You _did!_ When? Wait, it was when you went to get the pizza? I _totally_ knew it. Ahhhhhhh,” She squealed, hopping around the kitchen because she needed to do something other than _push Percy_. “Are you seeing him today?”

He looked at her like she was out of her mind, which she was (temporarily. Out of happiness).

“Right, he’s got the musical. How long’s the show going for?”

“Two weeks.”

“Ugh,” Her mood crashed in an instant.

Percy set the now clean dish on the rack beside the sink and washed his hands. “Are the others awake?”

She shook her head. “Annabeth and Piper are still snoring away on your bed, and Reyna’s got the couch. It’s just you and me,” She wiggled her eyebrows. And then she stopped. And then she made him look at her when she asked, “What was she – _Piper –_ talking about when she said you ‘got out’?”

Percy wiped his hands on a hand towel.

“And don’t try to lie your way out of this one, because I haven’t forced _anything_ out of you since you showed up at the Lodge – not about your parents and family, your aquaphobia, or the anklet you always wear that I’m pretty sure is a tracker.”

He glanced at the closed bedroom door and the couch’s corner that he could see from the kitchen. 

“They’re all asleep, Percy.”

He leaned back and crossed his arms. “…you already know I came from a. Detention facility.” _A jail_. “And that’s where I’ve been for the past two years, serving time. Piper was the last person I saw before going in, and that’s why she was the only one who knew. I ‘got out’ of there and came here.”

“What’d you do?”

And that’s where he drew the line. “Help me clean up,” He gestured to the mass of dirty dishes in the sink. With a sigh, she did.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Welco—”

“Is Percy here?” The breathless blond jumped at the first waiter he saw.

“Uh,” The Latino elf nodded, pointing at the employees’ room with his thumb. “Yeah, he’s—”

The guest passed him without another word, pushing the door open to the changing room and barging right in. He came out less than a minute later, a smile brightening his face as he ran out to meet the taxi that was waiting for him outside. “Thanks!”

Percy emerged when Jason had left, holding a fist to his mouth. He caught Leo staring at him and quickly brought his hand down. “What?”

“What just happened?”

Percy frowned, then shrugged. “He said something about good luck, and then he…” He brought a hand to his mouth again, then slid into the bar. “…left.”

Leo was really good at filling in the blanks. He shot Percy a withering glare. “Just wait ‘til _my_ girlfriend gets back. _Then_ we’ll see who gets all the ‘good luck’ kisses while working.”

“Didn’t she just leave for UCLA last weekend? Do you _really_ want to bring her up right now?”

Beckendorf broke up their bullying a moment later, shaking his head. Some things never changed.

 

**_P_ **

 

Piper spent all of Thursday with Percy.

“And dad’s in a new movie, coming out in Spring.”

“Yeah, I actually saw an ad for that. Pretty cool.” They turned a corner into a food pocket plaza, finally reaching their destination. “And how’s your mom?”

The half Native rolled her eyes. “Always flirting with other guys, as usual, but she’s happy with dad. And he’s happy with her.” She stopped to try a free sample from Panda, which seemed to suddenly give her memory inspiration. “And Drew – even though we’re only _seven months apart_ , she waits for me to come home and then makes me do all the crap she bullied me into when we were _five_.”

“She’s from your mom’s other marriage, right?”

Piper gave a stiff nod. “And she always tries to emphasize that whenever we argue. Which you can probably tell is a lot.” 

He smiled.

She smiled back. Conversationally, “Do you still go swimming here? I didn’t see a pool.”

He bit his tongue. “Not as often as I used to.” _Not at all._

“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” She laughed, and he forced himself to join her. Which she of _course_ noticed in an instant. “Stop forcing yourself, Percy. You know I can tell when you do.”

He ran a hand through his hair.

“Have you told anyone? About your mom and stepdad?”

It was just one stab in the throat after another with these girls.”No,” It came out much hoarser than he expected it to.

“Have you told your handler?”

They both winced at the word, _handler_. Like Percy was some radioactive element in need of constant caging and supervision. “No.”

“And you served the full two years, so you didn’t tell anyone at the facility.”

“Right.”

“Can you tell me?”

“No.” He knew she was upset, but he wasn’t going to spill to her. She could do all she wanted and he wouldn’t budge an inch. They stopped by a busy café and grabbed a table at once, sitting in the shade of a tree. They faced each other.

“Anyone else?”

“Piper, I haven’t talked about anything to _anyone_. And I’m not planning to.”

“Not even to Jason?”

His gaze dropped to his plate. _“Especially_ not to him.”

“Do you have so little trust in him?”

“We’ve only known each other for a month.” _Just barely._ “I don’t think he even knows I _smoke_ yet.”

“And that,” She pointed right at his chin. “You’re still smoking, even though you promised that you would quit. And now you’re spraying your tattoos, hiding them from everyone. Does – do any of them know even a _little_ about you?”

She couldn’t calm down.

“And you just lied to me, to my _face_. Thalia already told me that you don’t swim – she hadn’t even known you used to be a swimmer, Percy, like what do these people even know about you? They’re trusting a blank slate, and I don’t know how.”

He was a little surprised to hear that she had _cross examined him_ , but she was talking too fast and he needed to reel her in. “Pipes—”

“Why are you afraid of water?”

The hand that had been moving to her shoulder recoiled instantly as she spat out the question. “Wha – where did you—?” Even before she repeated it he knew the answer. She’d already given it away, just twenty seconds ago.

“Thalia told me. And the thing is, that’s the only fact about you that she, Annabeth, and Piper knew for sure. That you were afraid of fucking _water_.” 

He wondered, briefly, if the reason Piper had asked to meet him in public was so that he couldn’t run away.

“When, how, why? Just answer _one_ of them. Just give me _something_. Don’t leave me behind to think the worst again, back when they were accusing you of _murder_.”

He glanced around, wondering if she’d said it too loudly. But he knew he was just being self conscious. And he needed to repeat that in his mind to drown out the repetition of the syllables ‘mur’ and ‘der’ that were swimming in his brain.

He couldn’t breathe. He stood and all but ran from the table into the café’s bathroom, locking himself in one of the stalls.

“Shit, shit, shit shit shit.” He walked one lap around the white bathroom before crouching on the ground and putting his head between his legs. “It’s all in your head, in your head,” _It’s all in your fucking head._  

Someone knocked on the door, and he was pretty sure it was “Percy?”

She sounded worried. “One. Sec,” He managed, holding her off while he desperately willed himself to _stop shaking._

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” It came out sounding a little strained, but he hoped she would raw other conclusions. For now, he had to focus on getting everything to stop blending together. He hoped she was still there when he called, “Talk to me.”

“About what?”

“Anything,” And nothing was _working._ He curled up into a ball in the corner, hoping that it would just take him and pass. Just quiet and quick, so that it wouldn’t end with people breaking the door or calling the police or something equally—

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he checked to see who was calling. _Jason_?

_“Percy?”_

All he could do was gasp into the receiver. His head hurt, a lot. Not enough oxygen, his brain told him, also giving a warning that it would _probably_ shut off soon.

_“Percy, where are you?”_ He couldn’t reply but the blond’s guess hit right on the mark. _“In a bathroom. How many stalls are there?”_

One, he mouthed soundlessly. Right? He had to check twice to make sure he wasn’t imagining it.

_“I’m guessing there are tiled walls? How many in each row?”_

One, two, three, four… Jason could hear the popping of lips and clacking of teeth as Percy struggled to count and recount them. “Twelve.” It was a voiceless whisper, but discernible. 

_“And how many rows?”_

”Fift.” He sighed frustratedly. Why couldn’t he just speak? Gods, he knew what he wanted to say, and how to say it, but his voice just wouldn’t _work_. He swallowed when his eyes began to sting.

_“It’s okay. Take your time.”_

Jason’s breathing was loud in his ear and, subconsciously, he started to match it. A hot tear ran down his cheek and onto his shirt, and he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. “Fifteen.”

_“Awesome, it’s a pretty big bathroom. So how many tiles are on one wall?”_

Twelve times fifteen is… gosh. He’d almost forgotten how much he hated math. Twelve times five was? Sixty. Sixty times three was one eighty. Right? Jason would correct him if he was wrong. “A hundred and eighty.”

_“And I’m assuming there are four walls, so how many total tiles are—”_

“Please don’t make me do any more math.”

The laugh on the other end was unexpected but greatly relieved. _“Yeah, I was having a hard time keeping up, too. But I don’t have dyslexia, so I guess I’m just a little slow_.” He laughed again, Percy gave a dry chuckle. _“Is it really a big bathroom?”_

“No,” Percy assured. “I’m sitting in… a corner, and it’s closing… in on me. Way too small.”

_“I know that feel, man. It’s like sitting in my room back at my parent’s house.”_

Percy was breathing more deeply now. His vision was clearing but he was still a little dizzy, and he closed his eyes to stop the spinning.

Jason continued talking into his ear. _“After my sister came out to my parents, they kicked her out of the house. That meant that everything my parents ever dumped on her, was dumped on me twofold. I was going to be their son and make up daughter. So perfect grades, perfect looks, perfect girlfriend and life. I never dated guys in high school, by the way.”_

He paused on the other end for a moment. _“I didn’t really tell people these things, because I was always scared someone would shut me up with a ‘there are tons of other people who have it a lot worse’. I know I’m not the worst life out there, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the best, either._

_“So yeah. That happened. Stuff and stuff. I jumped off a bridge in junior year. I went to my audition, like I told you. Holy shit. I am so sorry,”_ He swore on the other end, but Percy was still stuck on the bomb Jason had dropped in his lap two sentences ago.

_I jumped off a bridge in junior year._

_I_

_jumped_

_off_

_a_

_bridge_

_in_

_junior_

_year._

_“Percy? Percy, are you still there?”_

He grunted, but that was all he could do. His heart was beating at a mile a minute and he started wondering if he could die like this. Curled up in a public bathroom, heart burst because someone had accidentally triggered him. Twice.

_“I’m here, I’m here now. I’m talking to you on the phone. I saw you yesterday, I kissed you for good luck in the employees’ dressing room then and the day before that. Monday, you went to see the musical. Right? You came to see Rent!. You told me you liked my singing.”_

He felt like he was going to throw up, except they hadn’t even gotten to _eat_ anything yet, so his stomach was empty. And the worst time to throw up was on an empty stomach, when he could choke himself with acid. _Thank you eighth grade science._

_“Can you still hear me?_ ” Jason was trying to keep his voice calm, but Percy could hear him so clearly that wherever the blond was, he was sure he was yelling. _“It’s Jason. Jason Grace. Thalia’s younger brother.”_

He breathed out an ‘I know’, thrown for a second. _I know who you are._

_“That’s good,”_ So the boy had heard him. _“I’m on a run right now. Two and a half miles, no stops. My lungs are killing me.”_

_Tell me about it._ Percy agreed.

_“Our dance studio’s on Broadway and some single digit avenue. I’m taking a break. You know a good ice cream place?”_

_Just come here._ Percy blinked tears out of his eyes. They dropped onto the dirty floor and he shut his eyes hard.

_“I’m almost there,”_ The cell phone promised.

Piper was banging on the door when he blanked out.


	14. Someone Knocking On Your Door at Three in the Morning? Super Sketch.

**XIV**

**Someone Knocking On Your Door at Three in the Morning? Super Sketch.**

 

Warning: strong language, mentions of suicide, mentions of depression.

 

“He’s alright, he’s just passed out,” the blonde pulled the boy’s head into her lap to check his pulse. “His heart isn’t racing, his breathing’s regular – everything is fine, Piper.”

“But,” She looked back from the passenger seat of the taxi, “He was. He—” She hiccupped and Annabeth made a motion for her to _breathe._ They couldn’t have _her_ passing out, too. “Look at his face. He was crying,”

Annabeth mentally cursed. She thought she’d wiped her face before Piper could see, but. Apparently not. “It happens during attacks. He was probably frustrated that he was causing trouble, or making a fuss.”

“He couldn’t _breathe_!”

“Here you are,” The taxi driver pulled up in front of a two story building, scratching the back of his head. They paid him and got out of the car, and he quickly sped away, eager to distance himself from the drama of his passengers.

“Thank gods I’m on the first floor,” Annabeth muttered to herself as they moved the life size rag doll to the door. She fumbled with the keys and then they were inside, and could drop Percy’s full weight onto the couch closest to the door.

Piper’s ringtone rang suddenly, startling them while they turned Percy onto his back. “Jason?” She sat on the ground opposite Percy. “Yeah, we got him to Annabeth’s apartment. He’s…”

Annabeth took the phone. Jason had other things to worry about right now, like his musical that was starting in _three hours_. “He’s fine. Breathing normal. Yeah. He’s sleeping right now. He’s fine. Yes, Jason. Alright. I’ll tell him. Okay. Good luck.” She turned off the phone and set it on her coffee table.

Piper had moved so that she could sit in front of Percy and was leaning her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Annabeth made out.

“You didn’t know.” She sat beside the brunette, running a hand through the braided brown hair. “It was an accident. Can you tell me exactly what you said?”

“Don’t leave me behind again to think the worst,” She didn’t raise her head. “Like when they were accusing you of murder.”

Annabeth’s hand spazzed in Piper’s hair but she quickly moved it away, hoping the brunette didn’t notice. _I guess we know what the trigger was._ Her own phone started ringing in her pocket and she went into the next room to go fill Thalia in.

Piper closed her eyes and wished she hadn’t been so emotional.

 

**_P_ **

 

He woke to the sound of someone apologizing over and over and _over_ again.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,”

He’d learned by the third or fourth time that the first sense to return after a panic attack was sound. Smell and taste, he wasn’t sure – but then it was touch, and sight came last. So he heard the sorry’s, felt the warmth on his shoulder, but couldn’t see anyone.

“He’s waking up,” someone said, and the warmth disappeared. He was tempted to call them back but he couldn’t use his voice yet. His eyes opened.

“Percy?”

“Yeah,” He croaked. He sounded horrible. Black faded out into light, and then brown eyes were right in his face. “Pipes? Where—” He sat up too quickly and his head swam.

Thankfully, she understood what he was asking. “We’re at Annabeth’s apartment.” Anticipating his next question, “You were out for about an hour and a half.”

He took a second to focus, clinging to the couch’s arm and looking everywhere, until he was able to completely process what she said. “Did I – at the café, did I—” Her face turned ashen. “I’m,” He rubbed his mouth. “Sorry.”

As if watching him pass out in a bathroom and carrying him into her girlfriend’s apartment hadn’t already destroyed her, his apology was like a stab in the gut. “Why are you apologizing?”

He huffed a dry chuckle. “I’m guessing you had to carry me in here.” He took note of her wet eyelashes. “Why are you crying?” He used his sleeve to wipe her face with a raised eyebrow. “It wasn’t _that_ hard, was it? I thought I lost some weight.”

“Annabeth helped. And you’re such a dunce.”

Percy gave a surprised laugh. “Am I?”

“I’m so, so sorry.”

His eyes softened. “It was my fault, Piper. Don’t worry about it.”

“How often does that happen?”

Percy bit his lip. “Not often. There are specific things that, um, trigger those kinds of attacks. You just stumbled across one.”

She stared at him with a faraway look that scared him, before offering him some water.

“Thanks,” He downed the glass. “Wait – I was on the phone with Jason, is he—?”

“We told him you were fine, but you might want to call him just in case.”

“Yeah,” He pulled his phone out of his pocket (Annabeth must have slipped it in some time ago) and dialed the number. When it connected, Piper watched Percy’s eyes brighten instantly. “Hey! Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tired. Good luck. Laters.” He hung up.

The conversation had lasted _maybe_ twenty seconds, but she could swear that Percy seemed more alive now. “I’m sorry,” She repeated, and Percy gave a soundless sigh.

“Piper, I’m _telling_ you, it’s no big deal. You were just asking questions that you deserve answers to.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just a little difficult to talk about those things right now.” His phone buzzed in his hand and he glanced at it before standing. “Crap, I have to get to work.”

She followed him with wide eyes. “You’re going to _work_? _Now?_ ”

He grabbed his jacket that had been somehow tossed over to the next couch and shrugged it on. “Yeah, I mean. I can’t just _not show up_.”

“Why don’t you call in?”

“I’ve done that so many times in the past two and a half months, I’ll probably lose my job.” He shrugged, then realized it was the completely _wrong_ thing to say. Piper’s eyes began to glisten with wetness. “That’s – I’ve been really lazy since getting back. This doesn’t happen – Piper, I’m _fine_.” He rubbed her shoulders, before heading for the door. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

She gave a sigh that he took for a ‘yes’, and with a small smile he shut the door behind him.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Where’s Beckendorf?” Percy asked when he switched shifts with Leo.

The brunet zipped his jacket up to his chin ( _what a dork.)_. “He went to go see that new musical,”

“ _Rent!_?”

“I think so. I don’t know,” Leo shrugged. “Anyway, I’m gonna go and Skype my girlfriend. Long distance relationships kick ass.” He pantomimed crying before waving at Percy and hopping out the door. It looked like Percy was working his shift alone today.

At around eleven, the best money making hour for the shady bar, Percy found himself bored out of his mind. Customers were busy with themselves or their drinks, and the groups that actually _talked_ to each other did so in low, hushed tones.

As he refilled a Scotch for an elderly gentleman at the end of the bar, Percy found himself staring at the door, waiting for someone interesting to walk in. (A tall, blond haired, blue eyed stage actor, maybe?) He got his wish soon enough.

His heart could only take so many shocks in one day but he really needed this job. So when an older man wearing some crappy yellowing tweed jacket sat across from him and ordered a beer off tap, Percy tried to look at him as _little_ as _possible_.

_Get the fuck out of my bar._

“Here you go,” He muttered, sliding the jug over to the man who seemed experienced in the art of catching sliding beers. The man took it with a nod of the head and turned to face the bar with his lips at the rim. Percy wondered what the guy was doing out here, in the city.

Had he actually made enough money to be able to afford this place? To afford living here? He assumed everyone who associated with his piece of shit stepdad was bound to stay in retail in the slums of The Bronx, the ghetto they all crawled out of.

“You look pretty young for a bartender,” An older woman pulled him away from his thoughts, leaning forwards over the bar.

“I get that a lot,” Percy smiled. “Would you like another Martini?” She nudged the glass forward and he scooped and filled it in one fluid motion. She looked interested, and he was going to give her a show. He didn’t mind that part of the job. “Enjoy.”

When he’d returned to the center of the bar, he tried to ignore the feeling of _that man’s_ eyes following him. The lady’s comment had gotten people to look a little closer at him, but most quickly found something else to occupy them. But the guy was just _staring_.

“Should I refill that for you?”

The man looked down at his half empty jug, and then the meaning behind Percy’s words clicked in his eyes. “No,” He finished the drink and slapped a few bills on the table, and then left the bar. Percy suppressed a sigh of relief.

The last customer, a regular, left right before closing, and Percy closed up shop behind him. He was too tired to do anything but prop up café chairs and change into his regular clothes, and so left the barstools where they were. He could deal with Artemis in the morning.

When he came out of the employees’ room, someone was knocking on the door. At first he was tempted to just leave it – someone knocking on the door at three in the morning? Super sketch. But then he saw a flash of yellow, and he all but threw the door open.

“Jason?”

“Hey, Percy,” He sneezed, and the bartender quickly brought him inside and locked the door again. 

“Dude, what are you doing here?” He had to tilt his head a little more, now – had Jason grown? _Again?_ “You just ‘in the neighborhood’ again?”

The blond gave a breathy laugh. “I’m checking on you, obviously. Walking you home.” 

“You’re barely going to get enough sleep.”

“I would’ve gotten even less if I hadn’t seen you in person today.” He paused, raising his arms as if to hug the shorter boy, but then dropped them to his side. His right hand came up to scratch the back of his neck. “I’m—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” Percy blurted before Jason could finish his sentence, his shoulders tense. “I’ve already heard it too many times today, from all the wrong people.”

“But it was still my fault.”

“How?”

“I – I brought up something that, that worsened the situation—”

“Jason,” Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m telling you now, it wasn’t your fault, because it isn’t your job to get me out of those situations – its _mine_. I just couldn’t do it this morning, and,” He sighed again, fisting a hand in his hair. “And yeah.”

Jason looked like he wanted to say something, but Percy cut him off.

“Anyway, let’s get out of here. I don’t want to look at that barstool for any longer than I have to,” He jabbed a thumb at one of the stools before ushering the blond out the back entrance and into humid night air. He yawned as they began to walk.

“So, how’d the show go?” Percy glanced over at the boy walking beside him.

Jason blinked. “Oh, it was good. We had a bigger audience today – the theater looks more and more filled every night. It’s insane.”

“Got a lot of eyes watching.”

“You could say that, yeah.” He gave the emerald eyed boy a small smile, before his gaze returned to solemnly stare at the concrete.

Jason’s hand brushed against Percy’s as they walked, sending a wave of goose bumps flying up his arm. _Again!_ His senses cheered. But no.

They crossed the first street, then the second, and then the third in absolute silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, but it wasn’t nice, either.

After a moment, Jason exhaled as Percy slipped his hand into the blond’s. He glanced at Percy from the corner of his eye but the boy didn’t turn to acknowledge him, so they continued to walk with held hands and a smaller distance between their shoulders.

“Why did you do it?”

He didn’t react to it like Percy thought he would, like _Percy_ would, only rubbed his mouth before answering. “Stress, mostly. There was some clinical depression, I found out later, that was treated with spilling my guts to a few shrinks. And at some point, I thought it would be the biggest thing I could ever do in my life – _die_.”

Jason didn’t know if Percy had squeezed his hand intentionally, but he returned the gesture. 

“Have you ever felt like that?” He wondered if he was allowed to ask that question. _Suicide_. Was that a trigger for Percy? He’d have to ask Annabeth – she seemed to know more than most of them. Or maybe even his sister.

Percy chewed his thoughts a bit. “No,” He finally answered. Jason almost tripped in surprise – that was most definitely _not_ the answer he had been expecting. “All my life, I’ve been determined – I’ve been _desperate_ to live. I’ve never felt like _my own_ death was something that could help me in any way.” 

He exhaled slowly, as if content that he had said this out loud to someone. Jason felt some warmth in his stomach, knowing he was that person. So Percy wasn’t, and had never been, suicidal. That was good. “That is really, really good.”

Percy shot him a half smile, nudging him with his leg. “Were you worried?”

“A little,” The taller boy admitted. “I don’t know what to think, with all the different things that cause people to hurt. I’m just hoping I don’t end up being one of those things.”

That brought up a question Percy had had eating away at his thoughts for a long, _long_ time. “How did you know what to do when people are. When they…?”

It took him only a second to understand what Percy was trying to allude to. “I learned when I was around fourteen, because, um,” He bit his lip. “My mom used to have those. Attacks. A lot when we were younger. They got worse after my sister left the house, and my dad is generally not much help.”

“The man of the family, then?” Percy didn’t say it in a joking way, but in an admiring one. 

“I don’t know if I was able to call myself that _three years ago_ ,” He shrugged, but Percy bumped him with his own shoulder. They stopped in front of the valet of the Hilton, a guard standing by the door in a ready position.

“Thank you, anyway,” Percy turned to look Jason straight in the eye, wishing he was a little taller. Damn those two (now, three?) inches. “For telling me.” _Even though I think you’re trusting people way too quickly_.

“Thank you for listening,” Jason nodded again, smiling. He leaned in, then stopped, then leaned in again, and then changed trajectory, landing a soft kiss on Percy’s nose. “I’ll see you later, Percy.” He waved, jogging out of the cold and into the shelter of a world class hotel.

Percy rubbed his nose, smiling all the way home.


	15. You Can Always Ditch The Shirt. I Won’t Mind.

**XV**

**You Can Always Ditch The Shirt. I Won’t Mind.**

 

The next time Percy saw the blond was a month and a half later, After shows / contracts / payments / thanks to producers / etc. had all been settled. He showed up at Percy’s house at ten p.m. on a Sunday night, looking dead tired.

“Hey, I need a place to stay,” He panted, hugging his jacket tighter around him. There was no air conditioning in the hallways.

Percy bit back a ‘your sister is literally in the next room’ and a ‘aren’t you completely loaded right now – get yourself a damn hotel room’ in favor of a “Come on in, before you freeze your ass off on my door.” Jason accepted the invitation gratefully, groaning happily at the sudden warmth in the room. 

“Thank god for air conditioning.”

“It’s great to see you, too,” Percy called, locking the door and tossing the blond a blanket from the stack by the door. At Jason’s raised eyebrow, “Let’s just say that you’re not the only one who comes over at night for a snuggle.” The eyebrow twitched worriedly, and Percy laughed. “There’s an eight year old across the hall who likes watching Disney movies with me.”

“Competition?”

“I don’t know,” The green eyed plopped down on his stomach on the other couch. “He’s _really_ cute.” Jason gave a mock sigh. “Are you free from contracts now?”

“Yeah, which scares me more than anything else. I literally have to live from contract to contract now – all I’ve got is a high school graduate certificate under my name.”

“Well, I don’t even have that much,” Percy agreed with the difficulty of the situation.

Jason hummed, like he always did whenever Percy mentioned something about himself. The rare back story gems were dropped so rarely that he sometimes forgot all about them, but Percy’s life was a tattered background that was slowly coming together in Jason’s mind.

“Living here is hard.”

The blue eyed boy laughed. “Living here is hard, indeed.” He looked at the TV, where Percy had something paused in the middle of blue screen. “What are we watching?” He shifted on the couch, making noise in his jeans.

“Oh, yeah, you’re still wearing crappy winter clothes.” Percy push up-ed off the couch (Jason stared, holy crap) and headed into the bedroom. “Change into these,” He threw a bundle at his guest from the bedroom doorway.

“Will these fit me?” he held up a shirt that he was _pretty sure_ he was never going to be able to get into.

“If not, you can always ditch the shirt. I won’t mind.”

Jason blushed involuntarily, scooping up the clothes and shutting the door on Percy’s face while he changed. Percy turned off the lights and lay back down on the couch, picking the remote up off the floor and setting the popcorn on the coffee table between them.

Jason came out a second later, sans shirt. Except he had a confused look on his face, similar to the one he had been wearing back when Percy had been offered _his_ clothes. “What?” Percy frowned back.

“Oh. Nothing,” Jason replied, an answer that Percy absolutely des _pised_ because it was almost always a lie. Except he shouldn’t be talking. The blond changed the topic soon enough, triggering Percy’s excited ADHD. “So, what are we watching? A Disney movie?”

Percy played the video and it cut to a screaming girl, scaring a small yelp out of the surprised stage actor. The resident held his stomach, unable to breathe through his laughter. Jason glared at him while the movie played loudly in the background.

“It’s… _Ponyo_ ,” Percy managed. “One of my favorite movies.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Criminal,” Percy hissed, starting the movie over from the beginning. “Don’t fall asleep on me now. We’re watching the whole thing.”

“Got it.”

An hour and a half later, Jason found himself _really_ happy with the movie. Or maybe he was just happy with how happy _Percy_ was with the movie. The shorter boy bounced around the room, pulling out snacks while humming the theme from the kitchen.

“Was it not the best thing ever?” He didn’t wait for an answer, tossing an ice cream sandwich onto Jason’s unsuspecting back. The blond flipped over at the sudden coolness on his back. “It is so super amazing. Better than the _Little Mermaid_ , for sure.”

“Wasn’t it essentially the same story?”

“No,” Percy insisted. Jason gaped as he bit right into the cold ice cream, completely unfazed by the frozen treat on his teeth (a demon). “Being a mermaid is ten thousand times more fun than being a goldfish. Or a scallop. Or whatever she was.”

He rolled blue eyes.

“Better get used to it, Jason. We’re going to be watching this a _lot_ more often from now on. It’s winter season!” As if Jason hadn’t already realized from trudging through frigid streets. “Are you okay with staying here?”

His mouth missed the ice cream sandwich and it smacked him in the chin. _“Can_ I?”

“Of course.” He glared at the wall. “I mean, Thalia might get a little annoying, but that’s it. You can hang til you get your next part, I guess?”

“Which will hopefully be one of the three mains this season.” He made a small prayer in his head and then quickly pulled a piece of sandwich into his mouth by his lips. “You should audition,” He suggested out of nowhere, and Percy choked on the ice cream.

He thumbed the top of his mouth to get rid of the brain freeze assaulting his nose, before shaking his head furiously. _“No.”_

“I had no idea you were such a giver upper,” Jason tried.

“Well, now you know.”

“Come _on_ , Percy. Winter has open auditions – literally all you need to do is show up. Really.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Stop.”

Jason leaned over the coffee table and grabbed Percy’s wrist, shaking him. “Please, please, _please._ ”

Percy shook his head. “Pitiful.”

“Don’t be a bonehead.”

“That is literally what every human being is.”

“Then don’t be a stubborn smartass. I’m sure you can sing, probably. And I can teach you how to dance, easy.” He gave Percy a bright smile.

“…no,” He was being budged. He glanced at the wall clock he’d put up some time ago. “Let’s watch another movie.”

“Percy—”

“Ask me again after the movie ends.”

Jason was determined to.

Except, halfway through _The Lego Movie_ , Percy had rolled off the couch and onto the carpeted floor, dead to the world.

“Sly bastard,” The blond muttered, snatching up the remote and turning the TV off. He yawned, joining Percy in the land of dreams only minutes later.

 

**_P_ **

 

Percy hadn’t completely thought through the situation before inviting Jason to stay with him. Not that he minded the company, or the extra help – not that he minded at all. But there were a few things Jason was bound to notice while living under his roof.

Like the first thing.

Percy heard a knock on the bedroom door before Jaosn’s voice filtered through. “Everything okay in there?”

Percy looked back at the running shower, hurriedly pulling off his clothes. “Yeah! Sorry, started. Daydreaming,” He called back, jumping into the icy water with a hiss. He didn’t hear Jason’s reply, but there were no more knocks.

And then, when he’d come out.

“What cologne do you use?”

Percy looked at the blond like he was out of his mind. “I don’t use any, why?”

“I dunno,” The guest leaned over and sniffed just above the crook of Percy’s neck. While Percy tried to force down goose bumps, Jason leaned back. “It was weird, like for a second you smelled like spray paint or something.”

“Weird,” The green eyed boy mumbled, quickly turning around. _Holy crap_. And this was just the first day. He couldn’t bear to imagine what the rest of the stay would be like, because he wasn’t ready to talk about those kinds of things. Not yet.

“I smelled pancakes,” The older Grace scared both of them by appearing at the bar side when the breakfast food was ready. “Oh _hi_ Jason. What are _you_ doing _here_?” She emphasized, trying to make things awkward. Percy wondered how two siblings could be so _different_ from each other. Jason was a total angel.

“He came invited, unlike _someone_ I know.”

“Don’t be like that. We have something _special_.” She sat down beside her brother and glanced at him. “Although _maybe_ I shouldn’t say that in front of your boyfriend.”

There was no time for the blond to stutter. Just as he began chewing on the first piece of sweet fluff, his phone began to ring frantically on the table top, beckoning him over. Percy was left to carry the brunt of the blush, and face the sister alone.

“Stop being so awkward.”

_“You_ stop being so awkward.”

“You’re making it awkward just by being here.”

“Percy, my heart hurts. It really does.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t eat so much junk food.” He made to move the plate out from under her but she latched onto it with her painted claws.

“Don’t.” Was her one and only warning. They took a moment to glance at the stage actor, who was still listening intently on his phone. “So he’s staying with you?”

“For the time being,” Percy confirmed. “Until he gets the next part to the next musical. We both just kind of crashed on the couches last night.” He ran a hand through his (WET!) hair.

Thalia stared. “You took a shower?”

“After him knocking to check what was wrong, yeah. Fastest shower in history.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled up his sleeve, revealing Percy’s bare skin. “And he didn’t notice the spray either? Doesn’t it stink?”

Percy yanked his limb out of her hands, just as the younger Grace sat back down. Percy read his excited, jumpy expression. “Good news?”

“Yup,” The blond chewed and then swallowed. _Well. He isn’t in drama for nothing._ “They’re holding a couple auditions next week for both plays and musicals, and my agent thinks that I should just try for all of them. There are only so many roles that eighteen year olds can pull off, but. I mean, I can’t just _not try_.”

“That’s the spirit.” His sister rubbed his back roughly, laughing as she grazed over a spot that tickled him. “Try for everything.” After she finished half of the pancake _alone_ , she pointed at Percy with her fork. “There’s mail for you downstairs.”

“For _me_?”

“It’s a little sad to see you so surprised about people talking to you.”

He wanted to smack her but didn’t. _When Jason leaves. Soon._ “I’ll get it when I leave, I guess.”

“Go get it now.”

Percy gave her a weird look. “Why?”

“Because someone wanted to contact you and you need to _go_ and socialize, right. Now.” She jerked her head in the direction of the door. He mumbled something about getting kicked out of his own apartment before leaving and shutting the door behind him. The sister turned on her prey. _“So,”_

Jason jumped. 

“I didn’t get to talk to you about this earlier, but. You’re with Percy now, huh?” For a second he was _truly afraid_ , thinking she was about to give him the talk of talks, but all she did was lean forwards and pinch his cheek. “My widdle brother _likes_ someone?”

_“Sis._ ” He made to pull her hand off his face, but that only spurred her on more. 

“You’re so cute, blushing and apologizing around him all the time. And the _staring_ , gods, even Reyna thought it was obvious. And that’s the queen of stares talking.”

“Tha—”

“Look, you’re doing it right now.” She gestured to his red face which he promptly buried in his hands.

“Please stop.”

“Are you kidding me? I missed out on this for _two years_. Nothing could ever get me to stop, not now.” She poke poke poked at his face and shoulders, laughing as blood rushed up his ears and neck. “It’s great to see you still _are_ a teenager, even if you act like you’re older.”

He moved his hand so that only his mouth was covered, even though the blush had yet to fade. He frowned at her with a question in her eyes. 

“You need to take care of him, you know.” She rested her chin on her palm, her eyes glancing at the doorway. His own softened. “You already know he’s got. Baggage. So, just be careful. And remember, you’re only eighteen.”

He bit his lip. 

As the intensity of his thoughts reflected in the wrinkles on his forehead, she gave a small smile and pushed at the frown with her thumb. “You’ve still got a sister to help you through this, Jason. Don’t think its you and just you alone.”

“I know.” He bit his lip again. “This morning, um. He was in the bathroom, taking a shower. Or, the water was running, but I could tell he wasn’t going in.” 

The blue streak inhaled deeply. Her brother was too sharp for his own good.

“And I wouldn’t have thought anything of it had we not – we met up like two months ago and went out to eat pizza, and it was raining. Is Percy aq—”

“You should ask him that yourself,” She cut off. But her face was just screaming ‘yes’ against her will. And her brother could read expressions all too easily. 

He sat back in his chair, silent. After a moment he leaned one arm against the counter and used his hand to cover his eyes. “Oh,” he breathed. _“_ Wow _.”_ She leaned over and grasped his wrist, and he returned the hold. _Wow._

They didn’t say anything as the elevator dinged in the hallway and the door creaked open, signaling Percy’s return to his dwelling. It didn’t take him even a second to notice the heavy atmosphere. “Did something happen?” He set the envelopes in his hand on the counter, passing a concerned look to the girl.

“Jason’s nervous about his auditions,” She lied easily and flawlessly, and had Jason not known otherwise he would have believed her. 

But Percy wasn’t so easily duped. “Oh,” He said, slowly and with obvious disbelief. When she didn’t explain herself, he shrugged. “Okay. Well, since he just finished touring a world class musical, I don’t think he’s got anything to worry about.”

‘He’ gave an awkward laugh. “There’s so much hype I have to live up to.”

“You will,” Thalia insisted in the same beat as Percy’s “You have.” The blue streaks shared a look.

“If you got a lead in a hardcore performance like that, I think you’re already living up to your own legend.” 

“Your opinion is invalid; you’re biased because you’re my sister.”

“Oh, really? Percy agrees with me wholeheartedly, though.” The Graces fixed Percy with two very different stares.

“Yeah, I do. I mean. I’m not really the best person to ask, but I already think you’re amazing.”

Jason chewed the inside of his cheek, locked in silent gaze with the resident. “Your opinion’s no good, either.” He said after a moment.

Thalia frowned. _“What?_ Why?”

Her brother stuffed his mouth with pancake.


	16. You Just Spent a Hundred and Fifty Bucks on Pillows

**XVI**

**You Just Spent a Hundred and Fifty Bucks on Pillows**

 

Warning: strong language.

 

“Why don’t you just buy an actual door?”

Percy glanced up from the two colors of curtains in his hands to fix the blond with a shrug. “I don’t really want to go through all the trouble.”

Jason pulled one of the curtains out of Percy’s hands and skimmed the description. “So you’re just going to put up a curtain for your bathroom?”

“I live alone, anyway.” Percy shrugged again. He’d recently noticed that he shrugged a _lot_ , but it was just so _accurate_ in terms of describing his emotions at a particular time. “And look. Where am I going to find a blue door? After someone puts it in, I’m going to have to paint it myself.”

“So that’s what this is _really_ about,” He ‘ah’ed in understanding. 

“Listen, are you going to badger me about my decorating choices or are you actually going to help?”

“How am I supposed to help?”

Percy held the pack in his hand beside the one in Jason’s. ”Which one is better?”

Jason studied them. “They’re exactly the same.”

“The _color_ ,”

He studied them a little harder. “Percy, they are _literally_ exactly the same.”

Percy whacked him on the head with his curtains. “The tones are different, you uncultured philistine,” Jason, as a stage actor on _Broadway_ , had never had aforementioned insult aimed at him before, and so didn’t know how to react accordingly. Percy took this as a sign of defeat.

“Well then. Since I clearly can’t trust _your_ judgment, it looks like we’ll be getting mine.” He tossed the curtains in Jason’s hand back onto the shelf and his own into their cart, pushing ahead.

Once Jason returned to Earth, “Okay, so, what else are we getting?”

“Blankets and a shit ton of pillows.” They turned into the Bed section of the store, stopping in front of an enormous array of comforters. “Alright, Jason. You pick two, I’ll pick two.”

“Why am I picking?”

“I thought you wanted to help.” He pulled a blue memory blanket from a basket and Jason realized that _this_ , Percy’s blue _obsession_ , was probably the reason Annabeth had sent him shopping with Percy in the first place. _Someone_ had to make sure there was artistic taste in Percy’s clash-y apartment.

“Alright,” And he proceeded to step through the selections to find colors that wouldn’t murder the eyes of Percy’s future visitors. “Does it matter what kind they are?”

“Just make sure they’re huge.” Percy gave him a thumbs up before taking hop steps towards the pillows.

Jason smiled at his strange tendencies. After a few days of living together (and sleeping on the couch. Literally _every single night._ ), he’d started to notice things Percy did without even realizing, without noticing that they were ‘thing’s. 

Like how he used a fork for everything. _Everything._ (“How in the world are you going to eat soup with a fork?” “You pick out all the goodies and then drink it out of the bowl.”) He didn’t even _own_ any spoons until Jason bought him a dining set, wondering how the boy had even survived for this long.

Or how, even in the quietest setting, the volume of his headphones would be set to eardrum-shattering. They’d sit across the room from each other and the blond could pick out every syllable of every word, every beat and sound.

He regrouped with the native New Yorker at the cash register, more than a little worried when Percy had managed to fill the entire cart with pillows of varying shapes and sizes. But he couldn’t argue with him – it was his apartment, after all.

The total amount came out to about a hundred and fifty, and before Percy even had time to pull out his wallet the blond had already handed the girl behind the register his card. She flashed him a smile while a glare burned into his back.

“Oh my god. Are – are you Jason Grace from that musical?” Her voice pitched up an octave and a half in excitement. “Can I take a picture with you?” Jason was never good at refusing people. She handed her phone to Percy, who snapped a couple photos before handing it back. “Thanks, enjoy your day!” She waved as they exited the store.

Percy stared straight ahead of him, not sparing his companion a glance even when Jason stepped in front of the cart. Percy pointedly turned his face away from the blond and began loading things into Jason’s car (which he only found out the blond owned three days after he’d shown up at Percy’s door).

Jason helped him. “I didn’t peg you as the jealous type,” Which wasn’t true. Percy was a jealous guy through and through, and anyone who couldn’t see that couldn’t see at all.

“Well. I wasn’t nearly as annoyed about that as I was about your stupid stunt. You just spent a hundred and fifty bucks on pillows.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, a smile threatening to explode on his lips. “You were going to do that, anyway.”

“That doesn’t mean everyone has the same weird tendencies,” Ah, so he was self aware. That made everything ten times better in Jason’s mind. “Why are you smiling?” Percy pushed Jason away with a hand to his chin and pushed the cart aside. “Stop.”

But he was already laughing, getting into the driver’s side in a fit of chuckles and light breathing. “Sorry, but I just. I wanted to,” He used the turn to back out of the parking space as a chance to look at Percy’s face without being too obvious.

The boy was leaning the back of his head on the window, his eyes on the road in front of him and his teeth chewing violently on his lip. He was thinking deeply about something.

Jason had long since decided not to interrupt these moments with words because, honestly, he learned more from Percy’s silence than from anything else. Though the subject was never clear, his emotions danced across his face and lived in his posture, sending deeper vibes than the ones he intentionally sent out. Percy was much smarter than he looked, indeed.

“Stop staring,” The green eyed boy muttered absentmindedly, and Jason returned his gaze to the road.

“Where else do we need to go?”

“I think that’s everything,” He said, then thought, then nodded more surely. “I’m pretty sure the rest of the stuff is in my boxes back home, and I don’t want to buy too much stuff.”

Jason hummed. “Are we unpacking the rest of your stuff today?”

Percy didn’t reply for so long, Jason wondered if he had even heard the question. After a moment, Percy breathed, “Ask me again when we get there.”

The answer was a ‘no’.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Jason?” No reply. Shuffling on the floor – Percy was moving underneath his blanket, but was trying to stay quiet. The whisper itself had been barely a breath, like he was secretly hoping the blond wouldn’t hear anyway. 

But the younger Grace had always been a light sleeper. “Hmm?”

Percy’s next breath sounded like a surprised ‘oh’. “You’re awake?”

“Mm-hmm,” He turned to face the voice, but wasn’t awake enough to open his eyes. “What’s up?”

Percy didn’t reply for a very, very long time. Jason had almost slipped back into peaceful sleep when the boy’s next words jarred him awake. “I have aquaphobia,” He whispered. But that wasn’t what Percy had _actually_ been about to say, because there wasn’t as much weight in those words.

Jason inhaled deeply and opened his eyes. He had to shift himself a little lower to be able to meet Percy’s almost luminescent eyes around the coffee table legs.

“I can’t go near the rivers, or lakes, or pools. And I can’t even bring myself to get in the bathtub on some days.” He breathed again, trying to calm himself down. “And on the twenty third – the day after tomorrow, I just. I can’t for sure.” Then the breathing stopped. Percy was holding his breath, waiting for Jason’s answer, or quite possibly a question or two. 

“That’s okay,” was all the blond said. When Percy didn’t breathe still, he held his hand out under the table, leaving it out halfway so that if Percy didn’t want to touch anyone, then he didn’t have to. It became dark in the room again when the blue streak closed his eyes, and after a second Jason followed suit.

About an hour later, Percy touched his fingers.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Alright, just a couple inches to the right – _inches,_ Jason, not meters—”

“These _are_ inches!”

“Are you blind? You’re going to tear the banner!”

“You come up here and do it yourself, then!”

“Oh, wow. _Real_ mature. I see the Jackson is already rubbing off on you,” The female blue streak rubbed at her temples. “Yes, right there. Alright, nail it in.” Jason held back a ‘that’s what she said’. “What else do we need?”

“Decorations, maybe?” He frowned and gestured to the majestic pine rooted in the center of Thalia’s rented space. “That is the saddest, most loneliest looking tree I have ever seen in my life. We need to spruce it up with happy décor.”

“You’re so overdramatic.”

“Do you have decorations?”

She pointed at three boxes lining the kitchen counter. “Annabeth, Reyna, and Piper each donated a box to our cause. Let’s pick through them – and for god’s sake, _please_ don’t break anything.” He was offended but she added, “I don’t want a repeat of your third grade Christmas party.”

He shot her a dirty look before sliding a box over to her and opening one for himself. “Well,” He pulled one string and the entirety of the box’s contents came out in a horrifying tangle. “I found the Christmas lights.” They both stared at the mega knot with equal degrees of terror.

“Do we _need_ lights?” Thalia asked, and when Jason didn’t answer she just mumbled, “Let’s put that aside for now. Moving on to Reyna’s box.” The music major’s donation was a collection of _beautiful_ tree ornaments that all symbolized music and art in some form or another, and the Graces sent a mental thanks for the usable decorations. “Alright, let’s put ‘em up.”

“Sis,” He hung up a small bass clef at his eye height. 

“Yeah?” She called from the other side of the tree.

“How long has Percy lived here?”

Thalia had almost completely forgotten that Jason didn’t know enough about Percy’s situation. “About four months ago, maybe a little longer,” She estimated. She’d met him sometime in mid August, right? “Why?”

“Oh, no, I was just seeing if you knew anything about, um. Stuff, I guess.”

Thalia leaned over from around the tree, fixing Jason with a concerned glare. “Does this have something to do with the fact that he’s been locked in his room since early this morning?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“I’ve actually been _dying_ waiting for you to finally bring this up,” She admitted, hanging a half note on a high branch. “Did he tell you something?”

“No,” Jason reached into the box to grab another handful. “He told me day before yesterday that he wasn’t going to be able to take a shower today. But that was it. I didn’t press him for anything else.”

She sighed. “And it’s so close to Christmas, too.”

“I’m pretty sure that he’ll be upbeat at this party if you really want him to.”

“I was literally just about to say that to you.”

“You’re closer.”

“I’m like his sister. You _live_ with him. You know he hasn’t even told me about his fear of water yet? Even though I’m pretty sure he already knows I know.”

“I’ve known him for less time.”

“Oh yeah, because _one month_ makes such a damn difference.” She rolled her eyes and blew blue bangs out of her face. “Like I said before, you should talk to him. He clearly talks to you.” She watched her little brother bite the inside of his cheek. “Jason, don’t worry so much.”

He frowned at her. “Why would you tell me that?”

“I know it sounds like shitty advice, especially for your case, but I’m sure that if you loosened up just a little, you’d still be more careful around him than half the people he associates with on a daily basis. And he isn’t—”

“Made of glass, I know.”

They sighed. She grabbed them both lemonades from her fridge, “Let’s take a quick break.” They collapsed onto the couch in a synchronized heap, groaning at the pressure on sore muscles. “Why are _you_ sore? Aren’t you a muscle head?”

“Only during the show,” He groaned and shifted his weight. “I haven’t exercised in two weeks, and look at me. I’m as out of shape as freaking _Frank Zhang_.” She raised a curious eyebrow. “My agent.”

“I haven’t met him.”

“I know. He’s one of the busiest people I have ever met in my entire life. He barely has time to meet _me,_ his _job_.” Jason chugged half the can of sour sweet liquid and sighed. “Do you think Percy’s going to go to work today?” 

“No.” She sounded completely sure. “I think he’s fully aware of when it’s bad for him to go out and when it’s fine, and if he can’t even come out of his room, I’m pretty sure he’s just going to stay there for the rest of the day.”

Jason paused. “We talk about Percy a lot.”

Thalia laughed. “You should hear the conversations between me, Reyna, and _Annabeth_ – I don’t think we’ve had five conversations in the past three months that haven’t involved the little fu – the little sucker.” She censored herself at his stare. “Sorry.”

Jason sighed. “I wish I could’ve known him earlier.”

“I bet he wishes the same thing.” Jason looked at her like he didn’t believe a word she had just said. “Jason, he likes you a _lot_. Like a _lot_ a lot.”

“Thanks.”

“Why don’t you believe me? Would I lead my baby brother on in an unrequited relationship?” She  shifted on the couch to face him with her whole body. “He has done all but said the words. How can you be so _blind_?”

She asked _even though she knew the answer_ , just like she almost always did. He couldn’t, he _wouldn’t_ see past his shortcomings because they always overshadowed the successes in his mind. 

“Jason, you can’t change the past, but you sure as hell can fix the present. You fixed yourself. You can fix Percy.” Even she found it strange, talking about her neighbor like he was a broken toy. But they worked like toys – there was one problem, and the person with the right skills could always come along and fix it.

Jason finished the drink and tossed the crumpled can into her recycling bag. “I really, really hope you’re right. I want you to be right.”

“Have I ever been wrong?”

He honestly could not remember such a time.


	17. Eternal Love for Car Mechanics

**XVII**

**Eternal Love for Car Mechanics**

 

“Hey,” Jason waved as he shut the door behind him. “I haven’t even gotten changed yet – Thalia’s going to kill me.” He looked over when the apartment owner didn’t reply. “Perce?”

“Yeah,” Percy all but tore his eyes from the paper in hand.

“Everything alright?”

“Huh?” He looked back down at what he’d been reading. “Oh, yeah – I just wasn’t expecting a letter from this person.” He fell silent, brow furrowing again as he continued to read.

“Okay,” Jason mouthed to himself, heading over to the suitcase of his stuff in the corner. _Took them long enough to deliver this_ , he thought, pulling out a dry cleaned suit. Thalia had insisted on all the boys wearing tuxedos, or something equally as fancy, for the party.

Percy wore the same one he’d worn to the opening night of the musical – he seemed to only take it out for special occasions (this being the second time). Jason had to clean the one he’d been wearing almost every day of the week, for all his pre-audition interviews.

He changed into it in Percy’s newly curtained bathroom, thankful to finally be able to change in a palce that was actually _meant_ to be changed in. “You ready to go?” He called, running a hand through his hair once and walking out to the living room.

The paper had been folded back into the envelope, and Percy was just leaning against the doorframe while waiting for him.”Yup,” He pushed himself out and the blond followed.

The party was enormous. Too many people had shown up at the club house and were trickling outside onto the lawn and front steps for a place to talk to other people. The place itself had been fixed to look ten times better once their group’s main architect had come to save the day.

“Big party.”

_“Fun_.” Percy replied sarcastically as they hopped up the steps. The blond laughed as they entered, holding open the door for his companion.

“You’re _here_!” Someone shouted above the ruckus, before a five foot tall body slammed the blond in his torso. 

He grunted before wrapping one arm around the figure. “Hey, sis.”

“I thought you were going to have to force Percy to come,” The girl looked the taller blue streak up and down, before giving her nod of approval. “Looking good, Jackson.”

“Not so bad yourself, Grace.” Ha gave a small smile.

Thalia’s own grin broadened. The boy had been dropping a lot more expressions of happiness as of late, and she had no doubt of the reason. She looked between the two boys in the warm lighting before realizing they had all gone quiet. “Well, guys, it’s a party. Go talk to people. Socialize.”

“Will do,” Jason nodded, and his sister disappeared to greet more guests. In perfect synchronization, the boys put their hands in their pockets. “Well. See anyone you know?” He glanced over at his other half, who was sandwiched between a group of newcomers and looked like he wanted to spontaneously combust. The cyan eyed actor easily pulled Percy out of the squash and pulled him towards the drinks table. “Let’s get something.”

Percy’s eyes lit up at the sight of something blue in one of the jugs. He didn’t care _what_ it was, he was going to drink it, and then maybe he’d even than Thalia for the tribute. As he jumped at the drink with a plastic cup, he didn’t see Jason’s amused smile at his minor excitement.

“I see Percy’s found the blue lemonade.”

“Hey, Annabeth,” Jason gave the smaller blond a half hug, while Percy hummed in his cup in greeting.

The invigorated blond beamed at the pair. “Why don’t you come over and sit with the rest of us? And Percy, Miss Valdez has been waiting for _ever_ for you to get here.”

As if on cue, the tall, buff Latina stepped around the secretary and smiled at Percy. She shot forward some rapid string of Spanish that only Percy seemed to catch, and he replied just as quickly. They both laughed. The green eyed partygoer pulled Jason forwards with a light hand on the blond’s back, inadvertently surprising him. “This is Jason,” He introduced in English.

“Jason Grace, Thalia’s brother?” He smiled comfortably, nodding and holding out a hand for her to shake. She responded with a hug and a hand on his shoulder. Jason immediately liked her, and could see why Percy was so admiring. “I’m Esperanza Valdez. I live across the hallway from Thalia.”

Jason connected the dots. “Wait, so – so your son is,”

“Little Leo,” She nodded. “He’s somewhere around here with his little brother, who he also wanted to meet you. Percy told him a lot about you.” For some reason that embarrassed Jason more than it did Percy, who just gave a warm laugh. “I’ll leave you two for now. I have to make sure Leo doesn’t get himself and his brother killed,” She muttered before excusing herself.

“She’s awesome.” Was out of Jason’s mouth before the woman was even fully out of earshot.

“And she’s a car mechanic. Eternal love for car mechanics,” Percy chewed on the rim of his cup. “And Leo’s little brother is the Disney fan. Don’t tell him I told you that.” Slurp. “This is blueberry lemonade, if you were wondering.”

Jason helped himself to a cup. And found it utterly disgusting. “This is disgusting.”

“I didn’t say it was _good_ ,” Percy shrugged. “And did you notice Chase melt into the shadows? Because I did not see her.”

“Probably off with Piper or something,” Jason strategically placed his half filled cup between a jug and a potted plant. He sighed and looked around at the too small club with too many people, but with so much noise and laughing that no one really minded. “I haven’t been to a Christmas party in forever.”

“Same,” Percy yawned. “And I’m already tired.”

“We’ve been here for, like, ten minutes.”

“Is saying ‘like’ a lot a California thing?”

“I have no idea and like I just said, we’ve been here ten minutes. You want to go home?”

“Not really _home_ ,” His teeth returned to nibbling on the edge of the plastic cup. He vaguely reminded the slightly taller boy of an indecisive five year old. (Or his sister. Percy _really_ reminded him of his sister sometimes.)

“We have our jackets, so we can go outside. And then come back later?”

Percy seemed to like that idea. After a moment, “You can stay, if you want to.”

“Nah,” Jason led the way out. “There were too many people in there,” He said, speaking what he thought was on Percy’s mind. And he hit the nail on the head.

The suspected ambivert sighed relaxed-ly once they stepped out onto frigid, wet lawn. The booming of music and talking was now just a dull hum behind them, and Percy’s ears could finally relax. “I’m just glad that we only have to show our faces and she’ll leave us alone for the rest of the night.”

“Until gifts’ unwrapping.”

“Until gift’s unwrapping,” Percy agreed. “I’m probably going to be asleep by then, so wake me up when she comes by.” He settled down on a marble bench and patted the space behind him.

Before he sat down, Jason briefly wondered if Percy was going to do something mildly romantic, like laying his head in the blond’s lap. Then he shrugged and took the seat, figuring that whether he thought about it or not his final reaction would be the same.

Much to his dismay, Percy did no such thing. “So. You haven’t brought it up yet.”

It took Jason a few seconds too many to figure out what ‘it’ was. “Oh.” He paused. “Well, it’s not really my place to force it out of you. Not anyone’s, really,” He added haphazardly.

“I figured you’d say something like that. You don’t really ask many questions,”

_Not to your face_. “I figure you’ll tell whoever you want to tell.”

Percy gave one chuckle, as if Jason had said something funny but not really. It was a little off putting. “I’m glad you think so. Thalia would have spent days hounding me for answers.” He paused to sip. “She has been, actually.”

“Really?” 

“In one of those subtle, but not really subtle ways.” Chew chew chew. “What’s your mom like?”

He was getting better at recovering from those really unexpected questions Percy sometimes shot out of the dark. “Um. Well, she’s a movie actress. Or was, in the olden days,” He bit the inside of his cheek. “She likes to get the family together and sing for everyone on holidays. She’s got an amazing voice.”

“Now we know which parent you took after,” Percy commented.

“Neither, I hope,” Jason muttered. Percy stared at him for a moment, but didn’t say anything.

At some point, it started to get colder, and Jason found himself hugging his jacket tighter around himself. “Hey, Percy, should we go—” He cut himself off when he felt the thump on his shoulder. Turning his head ever so slightly, he managed to see Percy leaning against him with his eyes shut and his breathing deep, fast asleep. “Oh.”

There was a very short mental debate on whether or not to wake him up before a final decision to shift him into a less vertical position. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on Percy’s far arm to keep him from face planting onto the ground, and then sighed.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Just carry him inside.”

“No, he might wake up.”

“We’re going to wake him up _anyway_!”

“Not right _now_ ,”

“ _Ja_ son.”

“ _Tha_ lia.”

“Alright, I’m waking—”

_“No.”_ The blond cut off their rapidly whispered conversation with a hiss, subconsciously squeezing Percy’s arm a little harder. “He’ll probably wake up soon.”

She put her hands on her hips and shifted on he ground, snow crunching beneath her heels. “You sat here through _snowfall_ , and he didn’t wake up. Just. Carry. Him. Inside.” At his expression, “If you won’t I’ll just alert the whole neighborhood right now.” Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath, preparing to scream.

“Al _right_ ,” Jason spat at her smirk. He brought his free hand around to hook behind Percy’s knees and then _ever so slowly_ stood up. 

“Whoa there,” Thalia caught Percy’s head before it could jerk back into the air and pushed it up into Jason’s neck. “Aww,” She pulled out her phone.”

“No.”

“Just one.”

“Please, no.”

“Shut up, Jason,” _Captcha! Cha! Cha! Cha!_

“That was _not_ one picture.”

“If you just stand out here in the cold, he’s going to wake up.”

With a roll of his darkened blue eyes, Jason stepped around his sister and traversed the lawn, working not to jostle the bundle in his arms. Percy didn’t even notice. 

The blond couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious of the head against his neck, or the warm breathing on his jaw. Every step he took, Percy’s ‘too long to be professional’ hair tickled his collar. Subconsciously, he tucked Percy’s head beneath his own chin.

Thalia watched his very obvious train of thought and bit her cheek to keep from laughing. “Isn’t he heavy?” The older sibling stepped next to him, keeping time with his slow pace.

“Not really,” He shifted the hand on Percy’s back to a more comfortable position. “I don’t know; I guess I kind of expected him to weigh a little more.” He guessed that the teenager was a lot smaller than he made himself seem. He hugged him a little closer.

They stepped into the now mostly cleared clubhouse, where the sudden gasps of _“Oh my g—”_ were cut off by a sharp _“Shhh!”_ upon noticing that one of the trio was asleep. Jason moved to lay Percy down on the couch and tried to ignore the sounds of phones whipping out and little ‘aww’s. 

“I think you just made Christmas,” Piper grinned, snapping a photo as Jason draped a small blanket (Thalia had brought an entire stack for the after party till the morning) over the sleeping figure.

“I’m just surprised he didn’t wake up.”

“How long’s he been asleep?”

Jason pulled out his phone to check. “Um. Three and a half hours?”

“You were out _side_ that entire time?”

“While it _snowed_ ,” Thalia confirmed.

“It was an inch, at most,” Jason replied defensively, sitting on the carpet right beside the couch. The rest of the group had already done so before they had come in, sitting or laying in a circle by a fire that someone had finally figured out how to light. “Where are the Valdez’s?”

“They had to leave. Leo’s little brother was too tired.” Annabeth explained, shifting so that Piper could return to her seat beneath the blanket. They leaned back against the fireplace wall. “You guys missed most of the party.”

“It wasn’t that long, anyway.” The blond pulled off his jacket. 

Reyna lifted her head from Thalia’s lap to call to the rest of the group. “Merry Christmas, guys.”

“Is it already?” Everyone pulled out their phones. “Oh, crap.” Piper was the first to realize. “Merry Christmas!” her own call was followed by a chorus of three more. “Should we wake Percy up now?”

“We just brought him inside. Let him sleep for a little, and we’ll wake him later.” Piper began digging through her purse at her side. “We can’t open gifts without him, so. For now,” her hand emerged with a deck of cards. “What do you want to play?”

They got through three rounds of slapjack and half of bluff before the boy began to move. 

“BS!” Thalia shouted excitedly, flipping the top card and then throwing the entire pile at her brother. “Ha! You’re a _terrible_ lia—”

“Hm?” Thalia slapped a hand over her mouth as all five heads turned to look at the turning figure on the couch. His arms came up as he stretched, releasing a half moan. “What’s?” No one moved. He sat up, eyes still closed, hair on one side of his head sticking straight up. “What?”

“Percy?”

He rubbed his eyes and yawned once. “Hmm?” Then he recognized the voice and his left eye opened a crack. “Jason?”

“Yeah,” He half turned around from his spot and stood on his knees to make himself more visible. “We’re at the clubhouse.”

“The wha?” More eye rubs, another yawn. He blinked himself awake. “The party?”

Jason smiled at Percy’s sleepiness, then brought up a hand to cover the lower half of his face. “It ended a little while ago.”

Emerald eyes swept suspiciously over his surroundings, pausing on every face, before refocusing on the bright blue in front of him. “Weren’t we outside?”

“Jason carried you in,” Piper called from somewhere on his right. The sleepy bundle looked at her. “We were waiting for you to wake up to open presents.” He looked confused. “Merry Christmas, Percy,” 

Despite himself, Jason felt a little jealous that he hadn’t been the first one to say it to the nap taker. _Calm down, Grace._

Green eyes cleared with understanding. “Oh. Merry Christmas.” He smiled, just a little. Quietly, he repeated, “Merry Christmas.”

 


	18. Tomato

**XVIII**

**Tomato**

 

Warning: strong language.

 

“You look so cute.”

Percy ignored the sounds of phone cameras snapping away as he pulled on his blue winter gloves and wiggled his fingers. Thalia’s gift matched Annabeth’s (a blue winter cap) and Reyna’s (a blue winter coat), and the three had immediately forced him to put them all on. “I get the feeling you guys planned this.”

“Wait. Put these on, too,” Piper held up her own gift to the teen, Robin themed pajamas. 

The speedy rejection that most of them expected never came. Shock, as Percy actually contemplated slipping into them. “…later,” He finally decided with great difficulty.

“…what?” Reyna voiced the room’s collective thoughts.

“Percy’s been obsessed with Robin since he was four,” Piper explained, folding the clothes back into a gift bag. “And princesses. His favorite Disney princess is—”

“I _think_ that’s enough facts about me for one night,” Percy pulled the bag from her and placed it protectively at his side.

“Who’s his favorite Disney princess?” Thalia asked anyway.

“Stop,” Percy warned.

“Al _right_ ,” Thalia conceded all too quickly. Percy rightly guessed that she was just going to ask his cousin later. “Well, Jason, where’s your present for Percy?”

The blond stood. “It’s, uh, back at Percy’s apartment.”

Percy frowned. “How did I not see it?”

“I hid it. Somewhere.”

“I want to see it,” Reyna stood, pulling her girlfriend up with her. The other pair stood as well, excited.

“We’re supposed to be gone in half an hour, anyway,” Thalia reasoned. “We can get back to Percy’s apartment, see this mysterious gift, and then sleep.”

Percy bit his lip. Jason held out a hand to pull the shorter boy up off the ground. “I’m too tired.” Percy whined.

“Jason can carry you,” Thalia pulled on her coat. “He had no problem doing it before.”

Jason met Percy’s eyes and quickly looked away. After a moment, “Okay.” Jason looked back at Percy. Annabeth laughed. Percy gestured to Jason as if for him to bend down, so the blond did. Percy wrapped his arms around Jason’s shoulders and climbed onto his back.

“Awesome. We’ll be walking home beside these dweebs.” Piper smiled. “Not that I have that much of a reputation in the city, anyway.”

Jason stood a little too quickly, almost smacking Percy’s head against the ceiling. “Hold your horses, Goliath,” Percy muttered, ducking just in time.

“Sorry,” Jason shifted his hands, desperately trying not to grope Percy’s butt on accident. 

“We’ll just be your slaves then,” Reyna scooped up Percy’s, Jason’s, and her own bag of gifts as the other three girls grabbed theirs. 

Percy gave a thankful glance. “Alright, mighty steed. Onward.”

“Right.” They led the way out of the clubhouse (Jason bent _extremely_ low in the doorway, almost falling over and killing the both of them) and out into the street. “It’s a good thing we’re so close to the Lodge.”

“Why, am I heavy?” 

A _teensy_ bit too close to Jason’s ear. _Gods_ he was being so self conscious today. “Um, no.”

Percy leaned in, resting his chin in Jason’s hair. He looked like an oversized eight year old, dressed in so many blue winter over-clothes. “What did you get me?”

“Do you really think I’ll tell you?” Jason rolled his eyes. He briefly wondered what it was digging into his hip. Was something on Percy’s leg? He couldn’t bend over to check whether it was the boy’s shoe or not.

“I don’t know, I mean, you’ve known what I got you for a _long_ time.”

Jason felt the weight of the tickets in his back wallet. Percy had gotten them box seats to see Jason’s favorite stage actor of all time perform one of the ‘best musicals of their age’. His own gift paled in comparison and suddenly, he didn’t want to show Percy anymore.

“Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Too late,” Three people replied at once, earning a groan from the tallest of them.

Reyna sighed in relief at the sight of a still dark sky. “Thank goodness the sun hasn’t come up yet.”

“It’s almost four,” Piper checked. “No one should be up right now.”

“Unless they’re crazy, like us,” Percy called behind him. They crossed the street in the eerie quiet. “I need to hear sirens, or something. This is too close to a horror movie scene for me.”

Annabeth laughed. “Well, the one who realizes it first dies second.”

“Who dies first?”

“The hot jock,” Thalia bit her lip and looked straight at her younger brother. He shuddered. “It’s okay, you big baby – I’ll protect you.” Reyna silently wove her fingers though Thalia’s a subtle act of protective instinct. The shorter girl squeezed back.

Percy sneezed in the romantic couple’s direction, scaring them back a few steps. “Sorry.”

“Are you cold?” Three people asked at the same time.

“Guys, I’m eighteen years old. Come on.” He scratched his nose on the fabric of his shoulder.

“No need to worry about your manly pride in front of us, Percy.” Piper slapped him on the back. “Your outfit’s already taken care of that.” Percy looked down at his blue knitted self.

“I like it,” Jason commented, glancing back. Percy stuck his tongue out at his cousin.

“ _Very_ mature,” she muttered, returning to the warmth of the blanket she was sharing with the blonde. 

The Lodge had the lobby lights on and the door open. They piled into the elevator, hugging close together for warmth, then moving in a giant huddle to Percy’s door.

“Bend down,” Percy ordered, pulling his keys out of his back pocket to unlock the door.

“Turn on the heater,” someone called as the girls dumped themselves on Percy’s (thankfully) carpeted floor, throwing their outer clothes onto his couches.

“Should I put you down now?”

“Okay,” Percy hopped off the blond’s back. “Thanks for the ride.”

Jason rubbed his neck and laughed. “Yeah, so. Um, your present’s in the bathtub.”

Percy looked suspicious all of a sudden. “Um,” He frowned, pulling off his gloves and cap suspiciously but still more than a little excited as he went into the bathroom.

“What did you get him?” Jason’s older sister asked, perking up, before a ‘holy _shit_ ’ scared half of the entourage into the bathroom. Jason followed at a slower pace, not too eager to get in to see. “What, what, _what_?” He could hear his sister shouting, before she followed with the same exclamation.

He shook his head and popped his head in the doorway. “It can’t be _that_ bad,”

“It’s so _cute_!” Percy squealed – _squealed_ – clutching a small bundle close to his chest. Piper pulled at his hands (“let me _see_ ”) and joined his noisiness upon seeing the rolled up puffball in his palms. After a moment, the fluff ball unrolled to reveal little hands and a pointy nose. Enormous eyes blinked up at Percy. “Aghhhhhh,” Percy kissed its nose once, twice, three times.

Jason beamed. “So, you like it?”

“Who could hate this little ball of _happiness_?” Percy held it up two inches away from his face, holding eye contact. “What is it?”

“An Australian hedgehog. He’s three weeks old and he really likes people.”

“Can I touch it?” Reyna whispered, on her knees beside Percy. He passed it to her and she held it in one palm. It looked up at her, laying on its front stomach. She blinked back down at it, a small smile flickering across her own face.

The hedgehog tilted its head to the side. After a moment, its tiny mouth twitched, twitched, twitched into a little crescent. “It’s _smiling_!” Annabeth almost screamed, as if no one else could see.

“They’re like babies. He tries to copy expressions.” Jason explained.

“What’s his name?”

“Um,” Jason dug around in his pocket and pulled out a small plastic card. “Tyson,” he read. The hedgehog recognized the sound and looked up in the direction of the voice. Piper ‘aww’ed.

“Tyson the Australian hedgehog,” Reyna passed the animal back to its owner. “It’s the cutest thing.”

“This is the best.” Percy held it to his chest again. “You are the best,” He whispered to Tyson. “Wait, was he okay in the bathtub?”

Jason nodded. “I set up a small blanket thing for him in there out of one of my old shirts and fed it right before we left for the party. It’s all cool. But they need to sleep around natural sources of warmth.” As if on cue, the little baby animal yawned. Even Jason had to stop to watch.

“I think it’s time for the little guy to sleep,” Thalia said, cutting herself off with a yawn on her own. “Percy, I’m taking your bed.”

“Sure, sure,” He was too preoccupied with the mammal child to care. “Good night,”

“Night,” Thalia led Reyna out to the mattress, throwing herself on. Somehow, Annabeth and Piper managed to sandwich themselves on, too, leaving nothing for the boys in the apartment.

Jason sat down on the bathroom floor across from Percy and watched the shorter boy cradle Tyson to his chest. He quietly slid the curtains closed. “I’m glad you like it,”

Percy looked up. “I think I’m going to have to buy you another present, man. _Wow._ ”

“I was actually worried about the same thing.”

“How _could_ you be? This is the best gift I have ever gotten in my entire _life_.” He nuzzled the sleepy little baby, urging it to lay down in his hands. After turning around in his palm, it rolled up again and sat in a little ball. “Thank you.” He grinned.

“I’m glad you like him,” Jason smiled again.

“When you said it was in the bathtub, I got a little scared for a second.” Jason frowned. “I mean, I thought you filled it up and were going to push me in as a joke, or something.”

“I would _never_ ,” He sounded shocked.

“I’m. Glad to hear that,” Percy ran a hand over the sleeping body in his palm. _“Gods_ this thing is perfect.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “When did I fall asleep?”

“Like half an hour after we went outside,” Jason whispered back. Percy slid into the same position as Jason, leaning back against the tub with his shoes touching Jason’s.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Not that long,” Jason bit his lip at Percy’s change in expression. “A couple hours.”

“Holy _crap._ Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You were sleeping.” Percy rubbed his eyes. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing, you’re just. So _good_ ,”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re too _good_ ,” 

“Repeating it will not make me understand any more than I already do.”

“Don’t worry about it, then.” He set Tyson in his lap and looked inside the bathtub, empty save for Jason’s old shirt. He sighed. Jason’s gaze burned into the side of his face. “I don’t like the bathtub.”

“I know.”

“Is that why you put him in there?”

“Well. Yes.”

“Your shock therapy didn’t change anything.”

“I’m hoping to whittle down your dislike to nothingness. It’s a work in progress.” Jason shrugged. Then his stomach grumbled, _loudly_.

Percy slapped a hand over his mouth, desperately trying to hold in his laughter at Jason’s blush. He curled into himself, his sides _burning_ with the need to guffaw. But then Tyson would wake up. He regained his bearings when dizziness from lack of oxygen began to overcome him. “Let’s eat something. I’m starving.”

Jason bit the inside of his cheek as he helped Percy stand slowly. They pulled open the curtain and silently stepped into the kitchen, closing the bedroom door to make sure that the four on the bed wouldn’t wake up.

“Here,” Percy poured Tyson into Jason’s cupped palms and headed towards the fridge. “Alright, let’s have…” He pulled out a few seemingly random ingredients and a mixing bowl, and then set to pouring in flour and eggs.

“Are you making a cake?” Not that Jason was completely avers to the idea.

“Food cupcakes. They’re awesome,” Percy assured, nodding for Jason to sit at the bar. “Just watch.”

The boy seemed to always cook in an excited frenzy, Jason had noticed. He didn’t go in any specific order, didn’t follow recipes, didn’t measure ingredients or check times. Everything was tossed in at a random time in some seemingly random amount, and then the end product came out looking (and tasting) gorgeous. Percy’s midnight cooking was no different, except he was just a tad quieter.

After dumping dollops of dough into a cupcake pan, Percy added chunks of random food he had in his fridge and popped the tray into the oven. “There. They’ll be ready soon.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the stove.

“So you learned to cook _all this_ from working at that pizza place?” Jason shifted Tyson to rest in one palm so that he could move his bar chair forwards.

“Well, some of it. These, I learned how to make from my mom.” Jason gave a silent ‘oh’. “She was really good at cooking, but she didn’t enjoy it as much as she liked playwriting. Have I already told you this?” Jason shook his head, very interested. “Well, yeah, she wanted to be a playwright. Musicals were one of the reasons we lived here.”

Jason hummed. “What kind of musicals? Or which ones?”

“She liked really upbeat ones. Like _Hairspray_ , I remember that one was her favorite.”

“Not _Wicked_?” Jason was pretty sure that most of the people he’d met in his lifetime held the play close, and almost every girl he’d known (and dated) had always called the title their favorite. With good reason, too, but another favorite was rare.

Percy laughed. “No, actually. She thought it was super sad and hated _The Wizard of Oz_ from the day she saw _Wicked_ and onwards.”

“Same,” Jason agreed. “It was a kid’s story and now I can’t stand it.”

“See, that’s why I’m glad I haven’t seen it.” They both laughed. “But yeah, I hadn’t seen a play in _forever_ before I went to watch yours, so it was amazing for me.”

“Well, I’m sure you won’t be saying that when we go to see _Book of Mormon_.”

 “It’s a comedy, right? My mom read it a bunch of times, but she told me I wasn’t allowed to read or watch it until I was eighteen.”

“I can understand what she’s talking about. It’s one of the… _loudest_ plays I’ve ever read. But seeing it live will probably tone it down. I think.”

I don’t think the masses would appreciate that,” Percy bent over and pulled out the tray, setting it on the stove. Expertly, he popped every food cupcake out of its slot and onto a plate, sliding it onto the bar between them. Jason took one, bouncing it in his palm until it cooled, and then took a bite.

“Good?”

Jason moaned.

“Thank you,” Percy laughed and picked a cheese cupcake for himself and finished the treat in two bites. He watched amusedly as Jason ate a second, and a third, and was halfway through the fourth before he needed a glass of water.

“These are too good,” He sighed, leaning forwards over the counter. “Wow.” He smiled contentedly at the chef.

Percy snorted. Using his hands to push him up off the counter, he leaned in over the bar and smooched Jason squarely on the mouth. He bit at the blond’s frozen bottom lip before leaning back onto his own feet and licking his own lips. “Tomato,” He hummed, then laughed as Jason flushed the very color.

 


	19. Channel Your Inner Kevin Bacon

**XIX**

**Channel Your Inner Kevin Bacon**

 

“You’ll do _fine_ ,” Percy assured, rubbing Jason’s back. “It’s only singing and dancing for today, right? And you’re great at both.”

“Your opinion’s biased,” Jason muttered, face still worryingly pale.

Percy couldn’t refute that argument, so he put hands on both Jason’s shoulders and forced the blond to look him in the eyes. “Haven’t you already done this before? And isn’t it going to be much easier than the last time, since it’s no monologue?”

Jason groaned. “I was a _kid_.”

“Even better. You played a thirty five year old at eighteen. You’ll be awesome.” He paused. “And this show calls for younger looking actors anyway, right? It’ll be great.” Behind them the doors opened, and the line that had formed moved inside. “Alright. Here we go, Jason.”

“Agh,” He groaned again and stood. “I’m going to mess this up.”

“Don’t jinx yourself.”

“This is a _classic_. I’ll have to be mind blowing for them to even consider picking me.”

“And you _will be_ ,” Percy assured. “Alright. We’re going to do this, okay? You’re going to be a dancer. You’re going to be Ren. Channel your inner Kevin Bacon.” Nervous laughter bubbled out of Jason’s throat despite himself, and Percy gave a relaxed smile. “Good luck, Jason.”

“Thanks, Percy.” He waved and headed into the lobby of the hotel, ready to enter the second audition of his professional life.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Do you think he’s going to get the part?” Thalia sipped her milkshake with great fervor, sending slurping sounds echoing throughout the small joint.

“A part in the play, for sure. The lead, probably so.” Percy glared at her until she stopped making so many food sounds with her mouth. “He’d got so much talent at eighteen, the producers would have to be _insane_ not to pick him for something.”

“So you think him getting in the business that early was a good thing?”

Percy dipped a french fry in his milkshake and chewed it thoughtfully. “I think it helped him with his situation at the time, so. Yeah.”

Thalia sincerely hoped he was right, because she would never be sure. She reached over their table to touch the fading streak in his hair. “It’s not blond. You didn’t bleach it?”

“It just kind of. Happened. Blue looks better than white, though.” He touched it. “I get fewer stares that way.”

She pulled her hand back. “I think that both look good on you, Percy.” He snorted, digging into his drink. “I haven’t seen you smoke recently, either. Have you been doing it in your free time instead or something?”

He shook his head. “I gave it up.”

She briefly remembered her father’s intense chain smoking habit, and how much she had personally hated it. “For Jason?” When he didn’t answer, she found herself smiling. “You know, if you keep doing these cute things I might start to get a little jealous of my brother.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“I mean, I told you how much I hated your smoking _countless_ times. And then Jason comes along and it’s just ‘poof’, gone? And he’s definitely not the kind of guy to tell you directly, so you just noticed it. Which means you cared enough to—”

“Moving on to more important things,” She chuckled into her straw. “He’s.” Percy stopped there, fading off with his gaze fixed squarely on the nothingness above the short girl’s head. Immediately her humor left her. If he was having difficulty talking to her about the topic…

When he didn’t continue, she realized she would have to piece it together herself.

By ‘more important things’, he probably meant Jason related topics. Same with ‘he’s’. And they were talking about plays and auditions, and how he would definitely make it in. And how attached Percy had gotten to the bundle of life. And then how Jason had left the house—

It hit her slowly and then like a brick wall, and she wanted to give the bigger streak a hug. Jason was _leaving_ , was going to be gone for at least a year to work on rehearsals for his show. And Percy would, again, be all alone.

Thalia realized what an actually smart decision Jason had made, giving Percy the gift of a life before taking another away. “Oh, Percy,” She reached over and touched his hand, squeezing his fingers in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. She was worried about Jason, too, after having seen him after so long. But at the same time she understood his need to leave places, and she would never hold him back from doing so.

Green eyes blinked before Percy frowned at himself and shifted to look out the window. His hand didn’t push her away, so she kept a tight hold on it. “He’ll be back,” She assured the obvious. But that was the only thing she could promise him.

“Yeah.” He sighed heavily, running a hand through his longer hair. His bangs were _always_ in his face now, covering half his eye in a normal position, and so the tendency she had once categorized as a nervous habit had become an evident need. “Yeah.”

“You can call him. Video chat. Email, if you’re feeling ancient.”

He rolled his eyes and she patted herself on the back for getting _some_ sort of reaction out of him. “I know all that. It’s just,” He shrugged. She wished she could loosen his tongue because he was always so _tight_ with everything. “not fun.”

“There are a lot of things like that.” _You would know_. “But at least there’s someone else who’s willing to deal, right?”

“I don’t know that for sure.”

“Jason isn’t just going to chat you up and live with you and buy you an Australian hedgehog for Christmas before ditching out, Percy. You should give him more credit than that.”

“I know. I do.” He bit his lip. “He’s just, too. He’s too,” He faded off again.

Her mind worked faster on the phrase. “You think he’s too good for you?” He rested his chin on his palm. “Is that what you think?” She was learning how to converse with his silence, though it would never become easy. “Why do you,” She had to ask herself again and again and _again_ how his self esteem had hit an all time low. 

Percy turned back to her at the silence of her inner conflict. 

“You know I,” Thalia put her hand down on the surface of their table. “I try to understand you. We’re not so different, you and me.” He wondered where this had come from. “Sometimes I can just see it on your face. But times like right now, I. I don’t know what to do, Percy. It’s _hard_ , not knowing the reason why the person you want to help is hurting.”

She was staring straight at him now and he found it _extremely_ difficult to do the same. Under the table, his left hand balled into a fist.

“I know you don’t want to tell me, but at least – someone. Anyone, just telling someone would help you, I _promise_.” It now made sense to him why she’d taken him out today, when Jason was auditioning and when Dionysus would be visiting in the evening. “I’m just the most impatient out of all of us. Piper is holding off and so is Annabeth, and Reyna – I never know what she’s going to do about these things. She’s _extremely_ protective of you.”

“Thals,”

“Perce,” She glanced at the wrist he was leaning on, its sleeve riding up and revealing some of the fading spray. She looked back up at his, though slightly pale, unchanged face. She’d expected some sort of worrying reaction, maybe even the early stages of anxiety, but. He’d taken it all in stride. “You’re getting better.”

He exhaled through his nose. “Am I?”

 

**_P_ **

 

“I see you still haven’t fully unpacked,” Dionysus looked around the still spacious area around him. “Do you consider that to be a difficult task? Emotional baggage of any kind?”

“I just haven’t had the time.” Percy shrugged.

“What about that?” The doctor used his pen to point at the right side of Percy’s neck, where skin colored dryness was flaking off whenever his shirt rubbed against it. “Are you still intent on hiding your tattoos?”

“I’m pretty sure the ones who didn’t already know about them have noticed by now. I think,” He ran a hand through his hair, his front bangs standing straight up in the air. “that I don’t need to worry about them anymore.”

Dionysus answered him with silence. Percy was supposed to go on.

“I mean _you_ already knew, right? I wasn’t really hiding them from other people.”

“It quickly became clear when you were in solitary confinement but still insisted on being sprayed that you were hiding them from your own eyes. I take this to mean that you no longer have a problem with seeing your own markings?”

“I don’t know about actually _looking_ at them, but… I mean, randomly seeing my inked hand or something won’t bother me too much. I’ll be wearing clothes over them, anyway.”

The fact that his youngest subject had become much more open with him in the past few months hadn’t slipped past Dionysus, although initially he thought it was some kind of farce. But everything Percy said proved to be true. “Do you still have trouble with water?”

“Yes,” Unhesitatingly, “but now it’s only half the time. Sometimes I get in the shower and I don’t even realize that it’s something I used to be afraid of. If I’m talking to someone while walking over a bridge I won’t notice that there’s water below us.”

“You don’t have problem with snow, correct?”

“No.”

“And it hasn’t rained in a long time…”

“Thankfully.”

Dionysus scribbled down what Percy presumed to be his reply. “And what about your guest? Jason Grace?”

Percy sighed. “He’s been staying here for the time being, but he’ll be going soon.”

“This is the person you’re seeing at the moment?”

“Yeah.”

“‘He’ll be leaving’. Are you…?”

“No, it’s just. He’s an actor, and he’ll be gone for a year, at least. Working on play stuff.”

“You intend to pursue a long distance relationship?” _Because that is not a good idea at all,_ Dionysus barely managed to stop the words from passing from his lips. He was pretty sure the boy already knew of the possible setbacks he could face in such situations.

“I don’t know.”

They sat in silence for a minute, before the telling pager buzzed in Dionysus’ pocket. “I think that’s all for today. I’ll be back in two weeks, Perseus. My number is with Miss Chase from downstairs.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

The moment the doctor left, Percy thanked the gods that his good day hadn’t completely dissipated at the events that were happening. 

He could still get into the shower, even though it had only been a week since the twenty third. The water browned as the rest of the last of his cover spray washed off. When he stepped out and in front of the mirror, he found himself staring at every ink.

He could still remember the exact events surrounding each mark, how and when and where and why. He’d been inked all over; black lines swirled in currents on the side of his neck, where Dionysus had pointed earlier. Tips of his back tattoo ended on his sides, three on each side. His left arm was completely covered in a web like formation that climbed up the back of his neck and curled around his ear. The view in the mirror ended at the upper thigh, just barely showing the tips of the flames circling Percy’s left leg. He hadn’t told Thalia about _that_ one.

When his eyes began to burn, he turned away and pulled on the shirt he’d set aside before going in. “Well then,” He glanced down at the time on his cell phone. He still had a couple of hours before Jason’s audition ended. The blond would never know about Percy’s _shrink_ , and there would be no mess.

He glanced down at the anklet that had grown a little tighter on his leg. He’d managed to hide _that_ from Jason, too, but the piggy back ride on Christmas had been a pretty close call. He’d completely forgotten about its bulky metal-ness and had just hoped Jason thought it was his shoe or something.

With a final glance down at the first t-shirt he’d worn without a jacket in more than a year, Percy lef the apartment. The elevator ride was spent with his mind somewhere else. His walk out of the lobby was a little stocky but not too different from its usual form.

When he passed by her Annabeth looked up to greet him, but her words suddenly stuck in her throat. After a second, she grinned. “Looking good, Percy.”

“Thanks,” Percy gave her a wave, suddenly a little more confident, and stepped into the sun.

 

**_P_ **

 

“I can’t believe you’re going away on _New Years’ Day,_ ” Percy hugged his jacket tighter around him, groaning into the moonlight air. Around them, street goers passed by at different speeds, crossing the street at a much quicker pace than they. “You literally _just_ got the part.”

“I _know_ ,” The taller boy agreed, his mouth covered by his scarf. They stopped at the next intersection. “Everyone was surprised, but apparently the producer’s just opened a studio in San Francisco and he wants us to start working there as quickly as possible.

“Do you want to go back to the Lodge to get some sleep before your flight?”

“I can sleep on the plane,” Jason assured, standing closer to Percy to hear him over the screaming buzz of the city. “Besides that, I can’t sleep through the start of a new year. Especially not _here_.” They hoped over a slippery snow puddle. “Is Reyna still holding onto Tyson?”

“Yeah, she wants to keep him until the day after tomorrow, when she finishes moving.”

“Aww.”

The next street crossing gave them the second separation scare of the night, and they regrouped under a street lamp.

“You know _what_?” Percy didn’t wait for Jason to guess, only grabbed the blond’s right hand and shoved it in his jacket pocket with his own. “You’re going to get lost on these streets with the way _you’re_ walking.”

Jason laughed again, intertwining his fingers with Percy’s in the shorter boy’s warm pocket. He hoped the green eyed boy would just attribute the redness of his face to the cold. They finally found the enormous crowd that had poured into the streets around the ball tower. “I can’t believe I’m going to get to see the ball drop _in real life_.”

He sounded so excited, Percy couldn’t help but smile. They joined the crowd, pushing their way through until they found the best view from the middle. The clock read 11:54 and the crowd was literally buzzing in anticipation. “It’s a good thing you’ll get to see this before you go.” 

“Yeah,” Jason took Percy’ moment of inner thought to ogle him for what must’ve been the fortieth time that night. He wished the audition had ended in warmer hours, when he’d be able to see Percy’s tattoos without the jacket to cover them. All he could see right now was the pattern going up his side, hidden by his longer black hair. 

Percy sneezed.

“Are you cold?” The shock blue eyed boy ignored Percy’s shake of the head and unwrapped half of his scarf. “Let’s romanticize this,” He laughed, wrapping it around both their necks. “Now we’re both warm.”

“You’re such an idiot.”

Jason only huddled closer to the figure. Someone screamed ‘one minute’ from the side and the crowd cheered. “You know, I never got to ask,” Percy looked up ( _damn those two inches_ ) to meet the boy’s eyes. “Will you go out with me?”

Percy almost whacked him. “You really like to be dramatic, don’t you?”

Jason shrugged. “I’m a stage actor, what did you expect?” He stared amusedly and excitedly down at emerald eyes. “So?”

Percy opened his mouth.

_“Ten!”_ The countdown began, silencing all the other noise. All eyes turned up to the glowing now-mobile ball and everyone hugged together closer. _“Nine! Eight! Seven!_ ” Jason squeezed Percy’s hand tight and Percy squeezed right back. _“Three! Two! One!”_

The world seemed to erupt into screams as fireworks deafened everyone in a ten mile radius, illuminating the sky like the middle of the day. People threw hats and flowers and ties into the air and pairs and pairs and pairs of people took the moment to hug the person closest to them, regardless of who it was.

Percy was pulled out of his awe filled trance by his companion, who lifted him off the ground and to his own lips. One, two, three, four kisses. “Happy New Year, Percy Jackson,” Jason beamed, still holding the boy an inch off the ground. “And answer me this time. Will you go out with me?” Percy laughed, his answer slipping out in a bubbling chuckle. “I will make you so, so happy,” Jason promised.

“You already have.”

 


	20. Keep-Percy-From-Crying Day

**XX**

**Keep-Percy-From-Crying Day**

****  


Warning: strong language.

  


“Percy! Percy~!” Door slam number one. “ _Percy!”_ Door slam number two. Damn, she was in the bedroom, right in his ear. Suddenly he was cold – someone had pulled the blanket off him. He groaned and rolled onto his back. 

“What? What?” He was hit by a sense of déjà vu at the situation. This exact scenario had happened before, with the same people. “What happened?”

“You’re in the paper!”

He sat up immediately. That didn’t sound good at all. He hadn’t done anything good so it must have been something really, really bad— “What? Why?”

“Look!” Thalia shoved newspaper in his hands and the smell of ink wafted up to his nose. 

After a moment, he forced his eyes open, trying to adjust to the morning light. He’d just gotten to sleep a couple of _hours_ ago. His eyes focused on the headliner. _New Year Goes Off With a Bang!_ Whatever, whatever, he didn’t really care.

His eyes moved down to the gigantic picture plastered all over the front page. It had been taken when the fireworks were still illuminating the streets and the people in them. The camera had been centered to take a picture of a couple kissing in the light, one figure lifting the other into the air. The profiles weren’t clear but those clothes and that shared cloud print scarf gave it away.

“It’s you, right? You and Jason? Oh my god,” Thalia laughed and clapped her hands. “I _knew_ it! There is no one on this Earth who has a scarf like that. Annabeth only made one.” She pulled the page out of his hands and looked at it again, probably for the thirtieth time that morning. “And you guys are _sharing_ it, like movie characters or something. Gosh, that’s so cute.”

Percy dropped his burning face in his hands. 

Thalia laughed and sat next to him on the bed. “Right when the ball drops, under the fireworks, with a thousand people all around, and _you two_ are the lucky couple who end up in the paper. The caption calls you the ‘moonlight pair’, _agh_ that’s so perfect.” He groaned and she prodded his shoulder. “Aww Percy, are you em _barrassed_? Your face is turning so _red_ , like a tomato!” He blushed even harder at that, though she had no idea why.

“Go away, Thalia.”

“No, this is too amazing. The rest of us watched it from Annabeth’s place, sitting together and hoping to give you two some coping time alone, some space to say your goodbyes, and then – and _then_ – you end up in the paper! Gods, you had a better night than _we_ did.”

“I didn’t even know you _read_ the paper.”

“I don’t, but Reyna does.” He looked up at her beaming smile in mild fear. “Yup. And so do Annabeth, and Piper, and Leo, and Miss Valdez. And I’m pretty sure Leo’s already called Beckendorf—”

“God, make it _stop_.”

“—and so does Dr. D. _And,_ ” She pulled out her phone. “It’s time to tell Jason.”

 _“No.”_ He leapt at her but she danced out of his way, leaving him to fall on the ground in a helpless heap.

“He’s still on the plane, right? I’ll just email him—”

“Thalia, _stop._ ”

“Percy, don’t be a butt.” She snapped a photo of the front page and began to type furiously on her smart phone. She ran out of the bedroom when Percy began to chase after her, her high peals of laughter bouncing off the walls. “And, sent!” She stopped in front of the couch and he ran right into her, sending them both flying into the blue sofa.

“You, you,” Percy was shoved off the couch and onto the floor. “Are _terrible_.”

“Now all we have to do is wait for his reply.”

“I’ve only been awake for _five minutes_. Why are you doing this to me?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I think Jason’s sense of melodrama rubbed off on you.” She stood and pulled him off the floor. And then she actually _looked_ at him. “Holy _crap_ , Percy, who knew you liked it that much?” She stepped back to look at his entire bare upper body. “I saw a little in the picture, but. _Wow_ ,” She circled him like a vulture. _“Wow.”_

He felt a little self conscious. “They’re just tattoos.”

“They’re _beautiful_.”

He sucked in his cheeks. “And we’re going to stop there. Okay, so, why are you all dressed up?”

She tore her eyes away from the view and grinned. “Hurry up and get ready, because Reyna’s taking us out for breakfast.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Keep-Percy-from-crying day. Hurry up, it’s almost eleven.” She kicked him back into the bedroom, ignoring his curses. “You _know_ she isn’t generally a patient person when it comes to food!”

  


**_P_ **

  


Percy hid his face behind the menu for as long as he could, trying hard to ignore four knowing smiles aimed right at him. When the waitress took the menu away, he was forced to look them in the face, barely able to keep the blush at bay.

Annabeth broke the silence. “…I’m glad the scarf was put to good use,” And then they erupted into hiccupping laughter while Percy opted to slouch further down in his seat. There was no damming up the blood now, and it colored his face in moments. 

“You guys are horrible.”

“It was so cute!”

“It was so _perfect._ ”

“The entire world thinks so!”

He glared at the three excited girls, who were speaking _way_ too loudly at the busy public establishment. Reyna put down the water she’d been sipping from to speak. “It was very adorable.” She confirmed, and that just made Percy heat up even more. She ruffled his hair affectionately, her facial expression not changing.

“Right?” Thalia clapped her hands. “Now we just have to wait for people to recognize you. _That_ will be something to look forward to.” 

He narrowed his eyes as the true motive of the breakfast in public was revealed. “I should’ve _known_. You guys always eat breakfast at my place. I’m leaving.” He made to stand but the brunettes on either side of him pulled him back down by his wrists.

“Sit down, Percy. Your chocolate chip waffles are coming.” Begrudgingly, the boy did as asked. Piper smiled at his obedience. “You know I’m going to save that picture forever.”

“Same,” The rest of them chorused.

Percy rubbed his eyes as the blond spoke. “Percy’s fifteen minutes of fame must be documented. It’s never happened before and it’ll probably never happen again.” Piper inhaled sharply, something that did not go unnoticed by her girlfriend. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yup.” Which was almost always a sure ‘no’. “Here comes the food, guys.” 

Saving them from an awkward silence was the waitress, who came around Percy’s left side to set down plates in front of everyone. Conversation resumed with food, but the waitress didn’t move away. She seemed to be studying Percy.

He brought a hand up to his left ear. “Do I have something on my face?”

She blinked. “Oh, no, um. I’m sorry, please excuse me.” She gave a small bow, stared at him again, and then headed back to the register.

Thalia looked between the studied and the study-er. “She’s still staring.”

“I know. I can feel it.”

“Now she’s talking to another girl, and they’re both looking this way.” Annabeth joined. Suddenly, her face (along with the other two expressive girls’ faces) burst into a smile. “They’re coming back.”

“Excuse me,” The waitress from before tapped Percy on the shoulder. He looked up with a mouthful of chocolate chip waffle. “Is, um. Is this you?” The other waitress held up the morning’s newspaper and pointed at the smaller, inked member of the lip locked couple. Percy choked on his waffle, enough of a confirmation. As he worked to wash the food down with water, the waitresses beamed. “We just wanted to see. That’s amazing! Good luck to the both of you!” They smiled and bowed and went back to work.

“Fifteen minutes of fame,” Annabeth repeated, earning herself a glare.

“If it hadn’t been for the tats, you would’ve gone completely unnoticed.” Piper commented. “I mean, the only telling thing was Jason’s scarf, right? And he has that with him.” She grinned. “I hope they can see it there, too. It’s a glorious photo. I need to give the guy an award.”

Percy shoveled half a waffle in his mouth at once, glaring down at his plate as the peppy trio continued on he same train of thought. “Pass the syrup,” Reyna obliged. He took the bottle and emptied what little was left into the squares, drowning his poor breakfast item.

“You’re going to get cavities,” She commented.

“I don’t care.” Bite one fell into his mouth and he moaned. I single line of chocolate syrup dribbled down his chin. He took another, and another, and another, but didn’t seem to notice the little bit of liquid in the side.

With a sigh, the taller brunette used her thumb to wipe away the mark with one little swipe. When he looked at her she gave no explanation, only licked the syrup off her thumb and continued to eat her own fruity pancakes. “It’s a shame they aren’t blue,” She muttered.

He grinned, forgetting his embarrassment. “I was just thinking the same thing.” 

“What are you two whispering about?” Thalia leaned in over Reyna’s plate, aforementioned girlfriend patiently sitting back while the blue streak got in Percy’s face.

The blue turned gray streak glared at her. “Way to ruin a moment, midget,” And pushed her face away with his palm. Reyna resumed eating.

Thalia rolled her eyes and checked her phone for the third time. “Oh! He replied!” Percy gave her his attention so fast she thought she heard a crack in his neck. “He said, ‘is that me and Percy?’” She grinned and spoke her reply. “‘yup.’” A second later, her phone _ding_ ed as an alert. “‘One second.’ What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her phone began to vibrate in her hand, ringing with a call. She put it on speaker.

_“Hello?”_

“Jason?” Thalia laughed. “How are you calling? Are you allowed to use your phone?”

 _“Yeah, for the time being,”_ he replied. _“Is that picture in the newspaper?”_

“Yes, and you’re on speaker.”

There was a pause on the other end _. “Oh my god.”_ His voice sounded muffled by something, probably his hand. “ _Oh my_ god.”

“Percy had the same reaction.”

_“He saw it, too?”_

“Everyone in New York saw it, Jason. You’ll be the next ‘Sailor and Nurse’. It’ll be awesome.” He groaned on the other end. “I don’t understand why the two of you aren’t happy. It was the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

_“Please, stop. I can’t be talking about this to my sister.”_

“Would you rather talk to Percy?” 

_“Wait, is he there too?”_

“Yeah, he’s been listening the entire time.”

Silence on the other end. _“Percy?”_

“Hey, Jason.”

_“…looks like, um. We’re in the news. Paper.”_

“Yeah.” Percy could just die from the awkward. 

_“I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”_

“Sure.”

The line went dead before Thalia could protest.

“Aww, they’re embarrassed,” Piper commented, finished with her food. “I’m looking forward to ‘later’.”

Later didn’t happen as soon as she had hoped.

  


**_P_ **

  


Reyna walked Percy home from his job that night.

“What are you doing out so late at night?” Percy asked upon seeing the brunette at the bar’s door.

She shrugged. “Let’s get on home.” She waited for him to lock the door before they began to walk back. She didn’t talk much, but Percy had recently learned to tell the differences in her moods, and right now it seemed like she wanted to say something.

“What’s up?” He finally asked after they crossed the third street. “You seem a little preoccupied.”

She looked down at him with a look he’d seen before and suddenly he wished he hadn’t opened his mouth. “After you left today, I was going through my old stuff.” He remembered Thalia mentioning something about the music major moving into a larger apartment. “I found some old newspapers I had totally forgotten about.” She unrolled the bundle she had tucked under her left arm and showed him the front page.

His mind reeled at the headline and he took the page with shaking hands. 

“I didn’t show it to anyone.” She answered the question before he could coherently ask it. “I figured you didn’t want anyone to know, either way. But it cleared up your biweekly visits, your sudden move in. And the tracker around your ankle.”

Reyna was a lot more observant than anyone gave her credit for. A shiver ran up Percy’s spine, but he couldn’t tell whether it was out of fear or the strengthening urge for him to vomit on the sidewalk. He didn’t even notice when she put a hand to his forehead, didn’t hear any of her worried questions. 

But she understood his sudden loss of senses because he found himself being pulled into an alleyway and then bent over in the _perfect_ position for his stomach to empty itself. Her strong hands rubbed his back in spirals while he heaved and then dry heaved onto the ground, one arm holding him up against the wall. The newspaper lay a couple feet away, dropped from his hands he-couldn’t-remember-when.

“I’m sorry,” She was saying, and he hated how many times he’d heard it in the last few months. It was a New Year, for crying out loud. And he couldn’t even have the first day in peace.

“It’s okay,” He managed, still breathing heavily. He hadn’t thrown up that hard in a _long_ time. It was a good thing he was wearing gloves because if he saw the ink on his fingers right now… “It’s okay, I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“You’re okay,” She nodded, pulling him away from the wall. The brunette began to lead them out of the alleyway and into fresher air. “There’s a public restroom across the street.” She answered his thoughts. At some point she’d managed to pick up the incriminating paper off the concrete and stuff it in her back pocket. “Do you want me to come inside with you?”

He shook his head – he’d been humiliated enough for one night. He staggered in and turned the faucet on full blast, throwing his gloves on the counter and washing his mouth and face. He dared to look up, straight into the green eyes of his reflection.

_Boy Goes On Rampage, Sets Step Father on Fire_

The headline boomed in his ears, over and over again. Thank god they hadn’t released his identity, was the first thing he’d thought, and then he had immediately hated himself for it. What he felt wasn’t remorse, it was fear that the others would find out.

His eyes traced down the tattoo going down the side of his face. 

No, he felt no remorse at all.


	21. Wreckage

**XXI**

**Wreckage**

 

Warning: strong language, mentions of suicide, mentions of immolation, mentions of murder.

 

_“—and I don’t know why I’m telling you all this because you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”_

“Percy, stop apologizing. It’s okay.” Jason was growing more and more worried at the sounds of choppy breathing on the other end. Lord knows how many conversations they had that he felt like he was going to break down himself. “It’s alright, I’m listening.”

Percy didn’t reply, still trying to focus on his breathing.

“Did she say anything?”

A shaky breath was drawn. _“She didn’t have to. Everything was in the article, my mom’s suicide, the fire, the incarceration, and she didn’t have to say anything because it was all_ there _.”_

Jason had gone completely white. He had brought a hand up over his mouth to muffle his gasp and barely managed _not_ to drop his phone at the admission. After a moment, he pulled himself together to help the person who _actually_ needed help. “It’s alright, she won’t tell anyone. She knows that you don’t want her to.”

_“I can’t believe. I can’t believe she, she found out. Of all the people who could possibly have – why, why now,”_

“Percy,” Jason wished he could just _be_ there right now, instead of in a suite at a hotel someone else had paid for. “Nothing is going to happen. It’s okay.” He didn’t know what had happened to Percy, but it sounded like it was a lot worse than he had originally thought. But “it’s going to be okay.”

_“No matter how many times you say it, you didn’t see her face.”_

Jason knew they weren’t talking about Reyna, but he had no idea who the subject actually was. “I didn’t, but you have to trust me, Percy. I’m not going to lie to you.”

_“Please stop saying that.”_ He breathed, breathed, breathed.

“Everything is going to be okay.” Jason checked the time. Almost one in the morning, which meant it was four back in New York. “What are you doing right now?”

A deep breath on the other end. _“I’m sitting on the bed. Reyna just dropped off Tyson, and he’s sleeping in my lap.”_ That explained why Percy was whispering. 

“That’s good,” Jason nodded. “Can you try laying down next to him? It’ll be more comfortable for the both of you. You can put him on your pillow.” There was some rustling and quiet breathing, and then finally a sigh. “Is he still asleep?”

_“Yeah,”_ Percy himself sounded more relaxed. _“He’s still sleeping. I can see him breathe.”_

“Alright. I’ll stay on the phone with you until you sleep, too. Is that okay?” More rustling on the other end. He assumed that Percy was nodding. “Okay.”

He sat back down at the desk in his room and opened up a new tab on his laptop. His fingers froze on the keys as he rethought about what he was about to do. Percy hadn’t told him for a reason, hadn’t given him the full story for a _reason_ , but. He was going to do it anyway, because. He was going to ignore Percy’s privacy because. He was going to violate Percy’s trust _because._

J-A-C-K-S-O-N S-U-I-C. Google autocorrected the rest of the statement for him. The article explaining the details of the death of a Mrs. Sally Jackson opened automatically, showing a picture of a woman with brown hair and brown eyes and Percy Jackson’s killer smile. The caption read, _Found dead at 37 years old_. The cause of death was leaping from a bridge.

_Oh._

He held his head in his hands. This was much, much, much worse than he had thought. He was an idiot. Oh my god, he was an idiot. The phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder gave out the sounds of regular breathing. Percy had fallen asleep back in New York. 

The first article had a continuation dated only two days later, and that one seemed to be the one Reyna had found. A picture of an old, hunched man in pajamas and a dirty wife beater replaced the one of Sally Jackson. 

_Immolated by step son_ , this one’s caption read. The details were clearer, sounding like they were given by someone who had actually been there. The mysterious step son had thrown the man from his chair, doused him in beer, and tossed a cheap lighter at him. The fire had only destroyed one room before firefighters arrived at the scene.

The boy was, at sixteen years old, charged with and found guilty of attempted murder on grounds of deteriorating mental health, had been taken in to serve two years at a juvenile hall. 

Jason felt like he was going to throw up. 

Attempted murder. Attempted murder.

_Attempted murder._

 

**_P_ **

 

Thalia stared at the wreckage that once had been Percy’s living room. Her mouth had fallen open a long time ago, back when all she had seen was the overturned sofa blocking half the door. But then she saw everything else.

“Per—”

“Don’t come in.”

His voice sounded scratchy and sore and only managed to worry her even more. “Percy, come outside.” She knocked twice on the door to the bedroom. She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Not that that was a problem for her, but. “Percy.”

“Please, Thalia, please just _go away_.”

What had _happened_? Only yesterday had been one of the best days of their lives, with Percy’s happiest moment making it into the newspapers, with people recognizing him in the streets, with Jason calling him and awkwardly telling him how he was more than a little happy about it. Why was this happening on the second day of the year? “Percy, just open the door.”

No reply.

“At least. At least let Tyson out, so that I can feed him. He hasn’t had breakfast yet, right?” _Thump, thump, thump._ The door opened a crack and out hobbled the little hedgehog that she scooped up into her arms. He closed it again before she could get out a word. “Did I do something?”

“No.” 

She sighed, but only in a fraction of relief. “Reyna? Did Reyna do something?” The brunette had come over and crashed at Thalia’s the night before, no words to give even to her.

“No, she didn’t do anything.”

She glanced at the counter beside his bedroom door and spotted his phone. It buzzed while Percy spoke. _Six missed calls from Jason Grace._ “Was it Jason?”

“No, Thalia.” His voice cut sharply through the door and she stepped back though he hadn’t even opened it. “No, no one did anything. It was just me, it’s just me, I’m just. I’m just me.” He sounded like he was about to cry. “Please, just go away.”

With a final stare at the door she _knew_ she couldn’t open, she stepped out of his apartment and back into her own. “Alright, Tyson, let’s give you something.” She picked up a bag of hedgehog food Reyna had brought with her the night before and gave the mammal a handful to eat on the coffee table.

Reyna stepped out of the bedroom, large bags beneath her eyes. “He didn’t come out?”

Thalia shook her head. “So what happened last night? I know you know _something_.” The brunette bit her lip but stayed silent. “Reyna, I already got the silent treatment from Percy. If you know something about what’s going on, tell me _now_ , because we have no idea what Percy’s doing to himself in there.”

Her words came out sounding more desperate than she wanted them to but she didn’t _care_ right now, there were too many other things to worry about, like the brunette that _still wasn’t talking._ With a frustrated exhale she pulled out her phone and dialed her brother’s number.

He picked up on the second ring. 

“Jason, what the _fuck_ is going on?” She spat into the phone, causing Reyna – _Reyna_ – to flinch. “Don’t pretend you have no idea, either. You’ve been calling Percy all morning.

“Where’s Percy? Is he alright?” The younger Grace completely ignored what she was saying, too immersed in his own worry to pay attention to hers. “He isn’t picking up the phone. Is he alright? Can I talk to him?”

“Reyna?” She called after the girl, who was heading back into the bedroom.

Jason gasped in her ear. “Reyna? Reyna’s there? Can I talk to her?” He sounded too desperate for her to ignore him. She frowned, hesitating for a moment, before calling the brunette back in to the living room. She handed her girlfriend the phone with a half questioning, half warning look, before stepping back and crossing her arms.

“Hello?” The half Italian spoke into the mouthpiece. A moment after, her face contorted into a small frown. “Yes. I know.” Pause. “I won’t.” Pause. “How did you…?” She listened for a second and then her face turned vengeful. “You _what_?” Another pause. “No. You stay there, and we’ll handle everything over here. Bye, Jason.” She hung up.

“What was all that?”

Reyna dropped the smart phone into Thalia’s hands. “Your brother is an asshole.”

She would have been offended if she wasn’t so _worried_. “What did he do? Did he do something to Percy?”

The brunette shook her head. “He didn’t do anything _to_ Percy, but…” She plopped down on the edge of the half Russian’s bed and rubbed her face with her hands. Thalia sat down beside her, still in the dark but working to put together the pieces. “I don’t think Percy’s safe in his room alone.”

“Agreed,” Thalia added a moment later. She tapped a number on speed dial on her phone and tapped her foot impatiently. “Doctor,” She said when someone finally picked up. “There’s been an emergency.”

 

**_P_ **

 

“I’m not going to hurt myself,” Percy repeated, shoulders tensing as the doctor took another step. The two ‘assistants’ (read: restrainers) he’d brought with him spread on either side of the room. “Stop.”

“Then stop reacting with such hostility and just _walk_ over here, Perseus.”

“Don’t call me that,” The boy spat. He wondered why, of all the days, _this_ was the time when Dionysus decided to use his legal name. “Where are you taking me?” He backed up into the wall. The assistants took three steps forwards.

“We’re going to my office in south Manhattan,” The doctor explained. “I don’t believe that your living circumstances are doing much to help your current condition.”

“And a secluded office _will_?”

“There will be no one around to trigger you,” He managed to sound calm, despite Percy knowing that he was growing impatient. The man was good at his job, he had to give him that. “Don’t create a scene here, Percy. There are children in this building.”

_Children_. Way to make him feel like ten times the freak he already was. His shoulders sagged. Wow, Dionysus really knew how to work him. “I don’t care.” He took the five steps to the Doctor’s personal space. “Let’s go.”

 

**_P_ **

 

Percy was checked into the room above Dr. Dionysus’ office that night. His things were delivered to the hotel the next day, boxes and bags and a sofa that all fit easily in an apartment that was twice as large as the one he had at the Lodge.

This apartment was carpeted everywhere except in the kitchen (spacious) and the bathroom (with an actual door). He had nothing given – not a mattress or curtains or anything – so there was just so much _space_ and not enough _stuff_.

“I’m determined to get you to unpack those boxes by the end of the month,” Dionysus had said before going back downstairs to tend to other patients. Aforementioned boxes filled the floor in his bed-less bedroom, leaving him to spend the day laying down on the floor and staring at the ceiling. Thalia had his cell phone.

What was he thinking, calling Jason the day after he’d left? Now the guy would probably spend the rest of the year worried out of his mind, wondering if Percy had really made it through that night and the ones to follow. He covered his face and groaned into his hands. Thalia had Tyson, too.

Then his mind focused on other things. Like how last night, he’d vomited secrets left and right. And Jason, despite his good heart, probably wouldn’t have been able to hold off his curiosity. He didn’t blame him.

His eyes stung because he was such a _crybaby_. “God,” He breathed, wiping his eyes with the heels of his hands. “It’s so hard.” It had always been hard, things were always hard.

Living in that house with _that man_ was hard. Watching mom cry was hard, letting Gabe do. Things. And hiding them from her. Was always, always, _always_ hard. Trying to breathe again was hard. And burying his mother was really, really hard. 

But lighting that fire – that was the easiest thing Percy had done in a _very long time._

He didn’t get nightmares because Gabe would haunt the back of his mind, regardless of time of day. He could just see him, sitting there, screaming. _But you tried to drown me_ , sixteen year old Percy justified. _So now we’re even._

“Now we’re even,” He said out loud, tasting the statement. Those words had been the last piece of evidence needed to lock him up in the loony bin at the juvenile detention center. “Now we’re even. Now. We’re even.” He honestly believed it to be true.

The knock on the door was… unnecessary, because it unlocked a moment later. “Percy?”

“Right here,” He called from his spot on the floor. Feet thumped towards him in heavy steps. When they stopped a few feet away, he patted the empty space at his side. “Come lay down.” He almost smiled when she did so. “Did you bring Tyson?”

“No,” She sounded apologetic. “Annabeth offered to take care of him for the time being. You’re not really allowed to have pets in this building.” She spread out her arms in the starfish position. “I brought your phone.” She slid it over to his hand.

“Thanks, Thals.” He closed his hand around it. 

“You sound much calmer today.”

“I had a night alone in this enormous apartment. So much open time really slows things down.”

“You sound like you’ve spent a lot of time alone.”

“I have.” He breathed. “Has Reyna told you anything?”

“No.”

The sigh came out in a rush. “Good. I can’t have you hating me just yet.”

“I–” She sat up and looked down at him. “I am _not_ going to _hate_ you, Percy. Don’t be so self depreciating and melodramatic.”

He sucked in his cheeks.

“And why are you acting all ‘quiet and mysterious’ again? You need to let _something_ lose. Reyna knows, Jason knows, and Piper _definitely_ knows. I’m sitting here, shooting in the dark, hoping I hit something that doesn’t set you off.”

“And it’s been working well for you so far.” She gave a small groan. “…how’s Jason?”

She blinked her bright blue eyes down at him, then let them soften. “He’s worried about you, but not as much after we told him that you were alright.” He sighed with relief at that. “You should still call him, either way.”

He glanced at the phone in his hand. “Hm.”


	22. Thank You, Thank You, and Thank You

**XXII**

**Thank You, Thank You, and Thank You**

 

Warning: strong language, mentions of suicide.

 

“Has anything changed?” The blonde leaned back into the couch, sipping her tea quietly.

The boy sitting on the carpet in front of her looked… tired, if not old. Worn. Barely breathing. He took an audible breath and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “It’s been a month and I still don’t feel any better.” He brought his own cup to his lips to mirror her action.

“Has it ever occurred to you that _maybe_ the whole thing was a bad idea?”

“Every minute of every day.” Again, he proved her wrong. 

She studied him for a minute. “You know, I knew someone like you.” He blinked up at her. “I mean, she always walked with a slight slouch. Didn’t talk to anyone unless she had to, and she didn’t like touching people.” Her eyes felt like they were burning through him. “Sounds exactly like you, huh?”

“What are you trying to say?” Because he couldn’t see it.

“You carry yourself like someone who’s been abused,” She had to give him credit for not flinching, “so I kind of guessed at your situation before I knew about the details. And it’s my job to know, so it wasn’t long before I found out.”

He sucked in his cheeks. “It never said anything like that in any legal documents.”

“Like I said, Percy. I could tell when you walked through the Lodge’s doors.” She tapped the side of her face, gesturing to his. “Of course, it only became clearer when you started showing these off. I mean, what reason would a fifteen or sixteen year old have to get inked all over?”

“Maybe I was just rebellious.”

“I’m pretty sure that your rebelliousness would be expressed in ways like coming home late, or sneaking out at night to go to meet your girlfriend, or something.” It was amazing how good she was at observing people. He felt a little bare.

“Why is Thalia going to a suicide support group?”

The question was so sudden that her train of thought tripped. Annabeth blinked owlishly at him before fully understanding his question. “Isn’t it obvious?” She knew that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. “She doesn’t seem the type, right?”

“I wouldn’t know,” He answered slowly.

“You should ask her. Soon,”

Percy frowned. “Did something happen?”

“No, no. Nothing bad. She’s moving in with Reyna.”

Now it was Percy’s turn to take a moment to comprehend the undoubtedly good news. “Out of the Lodge? She can?”

“She stopped going to group last Thursday and she isn’t planning on going back. That huge apartment Reyna bought is way too big for just one person.”

“That’s awesome,” He smiled down at his cup. “That’s really, really good.”

She returned the smile. “She’s started painting again, too. Right now she’s got this huge project that she’s working on, and told me it’ll take a few months for her to finish.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“Yes, but I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to find that out for yourself when you decide to get better.” She knew she’d worded that in an insensitive way, but Percy had never seemed the type to sit well with pity. “Things can only get better from here.”

“So I’ve hit rock bottom?”

She shrugged. “Close enough.” They both laughed. “Have you unpacked your things?”

He shook his head. “No. The boxes are still in the bedroom, completely unopened.”

“Have you set a deadline?”

“Probably when I move into a place of my own. I don’t want to live above my shrink for the rest of my life.” She gave him a chuckle. “Thanks for coming all the way over, Annabeth.”

The grey eyed student smiled, wondering if he’d noticed that he’d switched from calling her by her last name to her first. She shook her head and squeezed the mug in her hands a little harder. “Any time, Percy.”

 

**_P_ **

 

“At least it’s out in the open, now,” Percy gave her a smile she wasn’t expecting.

It was Saturday, meaning it was the day that it was _her_ turn to visit the healing boy. The brunette played with the last few chunks of vegetables on her plate, watching the boy as he leaned against the fridge to eat from his own plate. “Thalia would kill you,” She commented.

“I know,” He stuffed his mouth with bell peppers. 

She’d come to his place straight from a music rehearsal and had brought her enormous upright bass with her, the instrument taking up only a small portion of Percy’s vastly underused floor. He’d seemed intrigued by the instrument and his eyes kept drifting back to it with a curious smile. “I’m surprised that you’re not angry.”

Green eyes shifted back to brown. He tilted his head, vaguely reminding her of a specific hedgehog she’d been taking care of since New Year’s. “Well, you’ve actually helped me. It would’ve eaten away at me for who knows how long had it not slapped me in the face. And,” He set the plate on the counter. “Of all people, I’m glad it was you who found out first.”

They’d been skirting this conversation for a long, long time, mostly because she didn’t really want to bring it up and risk triggering him. But it amazed her how much he had calmed in five weeks. The Doctor wasn’t widely renowned for nothing.

And, still, she wasn’t ready. “Thalia tells me you’ve broken it off with her brother.” It was a strange change of subject, but it got his attention.

“A little more than a month ago, yeah.”

“So not that long after the big break?”

He looked amused at her name for his almost breakdown. “Yeah, right around then.” He fell silent for a second, but she had done the same. He spoke up again when it was clear she wouldn’t. “We haven’t spoken since then, if you were going to ask.”

She was. “Are you seeing someone else now?”

He sighed. “In between meeting with my shrink and struggling to stay afloat in this economy, I haven’t really had the time. I’m surprised I still have a job.” It was just his luck that Artemis hadn’t come to beat him up yet, after all his absences.

“She talks to him a lot over the phone.” Percy assumed ‘she’ was Thalia. “Sometimes I get the feeling that they’re talking about you, but I can never be sure.”

He bit his swollen bottom lip. “Well, like I said. We’re not together.” The statements spilled out of his mouth too quickly, and she was tempted to point that out to him.

But she only nodded in acknowledgement and mercifully changed the subject for him. “You went to Meriwether Prep, right?”

He blinked. “Um, yes. The midtown one, right?”

Reyna sat up a little straighter. “We had the same Euro Lit.”

“You went to my high school?”

“I didn’t realize it before, but the captain of the swim team dropped out in his sophomore year. It was a huge letdown for the school. Everyone thought he was going to take us to nationals.”

“How do you remember all of this?”

“It was only three years ago, and I have an excellent memory.” Her eyes traced down his lean figure. “But it seems like you’ve lost a lot of your old figure.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t swim anymore.”

“You do have your old swimming tights, though.” She gave him a look.

“How did you—”

“Thalia told me.”

“Of course,” He muttered under his breath. “I don’t know when she has time to go through my closet, but yes, I still have them. It’s about time to get rid of them, though; they probably don’t fit me anymore.” He fell silent.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Why aren’t you picking up your phone?”

Thalia burst into his apartment, kind of expecting but not really caring if she found Percy changing into his pajamas or something. It wasn’t her fault that she could only visit this late – packing had taken for _ever_ , and then the traffic-filled drive to his apartment had been hell.

Instead, he was laying on the ground in the starfish position, staring up at his oh-so-interesting ceiling. Again. “It’s on silent on the kitchen counter.” He raised one finger to point in its general direction.

She rolled her eyes, threw off her shoes at the doorway, and stomped over to him. “How was your day?” She demanded angrily.

“Good.”

“Any trouble at work?”

“No,”

“Did you eat?’

“Yes.”

“You took out the trash?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Did you take a shower?”

“Yup.”

She glared down at him to make sure he wasn’t lying to her, and then relaxed and plopped down on his one awkward piece of furniture. “I didn’t remember painting being this tiring,” She muttered to herself, not really expecting Percy to answer.

“Do you not like it?”

She shook her head. “I really like it, and it’s fun, but. There’s so much I want to put into a single piece and my hands won’t cooperate and _agh_ ,” She punched the seat beside her. “Art is hard.”

He grinned. Reyna said the same thing the day before yesterday. “‘Music is hard.’”

“Hard things are hard.”

“Agreed,” He laughed and lay his head back in a more comfortable position. “I think my form is imprinted on this spot on the carpet, now. I spend so much time just laying here.”

“And I’m sitting here wondering why you aren’t a chub yet.”

He snorted. “How is my baby doing?”

“Which baby?”

“I only have one,” He looked confusedly at her for a second, and then she figured out who eh was talking about. “Who are _you_ talking about?”

“Sorry, I was thinking about something else. Tyson’s fine,” She assured. “He misses you, so you’ll have to visit again soon.”

“I will.”

Thalia’s phone buzzed Reyna’s text tone and she stood, having used up all her free time today. “I’ll visit again,” She called as she walked towards the door. “And turn on your damn phone!” She growled at him, swiping the device off the counter. “What’s your pass code?”

“Apartment number,” He replied as she glanced at the door and punched in the digits.

He’d apparently been looking through his pictures before leaving the phone, because the first thing that came up was a photo dated back a few months. Thalia stopped to look at the picture for a second, because the main subject looked _really_ freaking familiar.

It was a picture of a blond in a coat, seemingly illuminated by lights around him, pointing up at a chandelier with a painted archway in front of him. He was facing away from the camera, so there was no face to recognize.

She glanced over at Percy, who was still laying on the ground, completely oblivious to her silence. She looked back down at the picture. The then-blue streak had been so excited when taking her brother out to see the City Hall Loop, she could still remember it even now.

“Percy?”

“Hmm?” He wasn’t looking at her, still staring up at the ceiling.

“You’re a good guy.”

He blinked in surprise and turned his head to look at her. She’d already set his phone back down and made it to his apartment door. “What?”

“I’ll see you later,” She promised, giving him a huge smile before leaving.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Hello?”

_“Jason,”_

“Percy! Thank gods, oh my gods, are you alright? Is everything alright?”

_“Yes, I’m alright, everything’s alright.”_

“Good. That’s. That’s really good.”

_“How are things going with the musical?”_

“Well… I mean, things are good. They’re great, actually. I can’t believe I’ll be a lead, but it’ll be amazing. I think it’ll be amazing.”

_“It will be.”_

“…”

_“…”_

“I’m—”

_“Don’t apologize.”_

“—sorry, Percy, I am. I’m—”

_“It’s fine, Jason. Don’t apologize.”_

“No, it was – it was a horrible violation of privacy, and. And I had no right—”

_“You had every right. You’re probably the only one with that right.”_

“I’m so sorry.”

_“Don’t apologize.”_

“…”

_“…”_

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

_“Yeah. Right now, I’m okay.”_

“That’s…”

_“Good?”_

“Yeah.”

_“…”_

 “What are you about to tell me? And please don’t tell me it is what I think it is.”

_“…”_

“Are you still there?”

_“Yeah.”_

“Percy, honestly, this is not a good idea. I promise you.”

_“Jason—”_

“Don’t ‘Jason’ this right now. I’m – not even there in person to convince you not to.”

_“You wouldn’t have been able to either way.”_

“…you know, I. I actually thought this would come up sometime, but I don’t even know what to say. I guess it was one of those ‘subconsciously hoping against hope’ kind of things.”

_“You’re doing a phenomenal job of making me feel guilty right now, but this is be—”_

“‘Better for the both of us’? Gods, Percy, don’t use such a cliché line in our less-than-cliché breakup. And stop smiling.”

_“I wasn’t smiling.”_

“Lies.”

_“Well. This way you won’t have to worry about random inconvenient calls from someone who periodically forgets how to breathe.”_

“I hate it when you do that.”

_“Do what?”_

“Denigrate yourself. I do not and have never found you inconvenient, and if I had I would’ve told you by now. And the only thing I worry about in those situations is whether or not you’re going to be alright with my meager assistance.”

_“…”_

“Still there?”

_“Yeah,”_

“Good, because I still have more to say. I’m very, very, very happy to help you whenever I can because. I don’t know, just because. I’m just happy about it. It’s – you’re not inconvenient, Percy.”

_“Alright, Jason.”_

“You’re just going to accept it like that?”

_“I don’t really know what to say, um. Thank you. It makes me beyond happy to hear you say that. You haven’t changed the circumstances or my mind. You should probably go to sleep right around now.”_

“Am I talking to Percy or Percy’s ADHD? And if I go to sleep right now, will you have a different opinion in the morning? Or in a few hours?”

_“If you call in the morning, I won’t pick up the phone._

_“If you call the day after, I won’t pick up then, either._

_“I’m not joking about this, Jason._

_“Are you still there?”_

“Yes.”

_“So?”_

“So? So what? We’re cutting this off completely? Not even a ‘let’s just be friends’ spiel? Are you even listening to yourself?”

_“I’ve been listening to myself practice these words for hours. It wasn’t an improvised thing.”_

“You still did a shitty job.”

_“I know,”_

“It’s no wonder you’re not in theater.”

_“Yeah.”_

“Fuck you, Percy. And stop smiling.”

_“I wasn’t smiling.”_

“So many lies, except none of them are the ones I want to hear.”

_“You’re a tough crowd.”_

“You’re one to talk.”

_“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get this angry about something.”_

“The role change is strangely satisfying. I think I can understand my sister’s anger about some things, now. You’ve opened my eyes with your assholery.”

_“Thank you for everything you’ve—”_

“Not yet.”

_“—done, Jason, and I don’t regret a second of it. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.”_

_“Percy.”_

_“Bye.”_

_Beeep._

 


	23. You Freaking Groundhog

**XXIII**

**You Freaking Groundhog**

 

Warning: mentions of abuse.

 

Percy absentmindedly traced the outline of his phone with his nail, his main focus the image on the screen. He’d long since memorized everything about it: the marks on the walls, what color everything was, what clothes Jason had been wearing when he took the picture (not that he’d ever forgotten).

He’d never really felt the need to delete the picture before, but now it had suddenly become a necessity. _It’s weird to still have it_ , he told himself, but it wasn’t like anyone would find out about it unless he told them, anyway. And he wasn’t planning on doing _that_ anytime soon.

“Perseus?”

He almost dropped the phone. “Yes?”

Dionysus held the door open for him, letting out the earlier patient. “I’ll see you now.” Percy followed him into the plainly decorated office, shutting the door behind him and sitting on one of the two luxurious couches in the center. “How are you?”

“Better,” Percy replied honestly. “It’s easier to do things when people need you to.” The doctor wrote the quote down word for word. “I read about what you said last week, the ‘pressing charges’ and all that. Is that – is it still an option?”

Dionysus’ pen froze on the paper. He looked up to check if the boy in front of him was joking, but Percy seemed more serious than he’d been for his entire stay. “Are you considering it?”

“Yes,” He affirmed. “I think I really – I don’t want to leave things like the way they’ve been. It’s not helping me in everyday life, constantly worrying about being recognized or something like that.”

“You might also just be venting your anger out,” the older man interjected. It was a valid ‘maybe’, probably even the right one, but this was one of the few situations that he fully supported. He’d seen first hand how difficult things were for the boy – and none of it was an act.

“I probably am, but there is literally nothing that can stop me from wanting to ruin things for this guy.”

He ignored the tinge of vengefulness in the boy’s voice. “Where did the sudden urge to cooperate come from?”

Percy bit the inside of his cheek. “Since things are going down so quickly, I just want it to end now.”

“Did something happen?” 

Withholding information always got the grey streak nowhere. “I’m going a little crazy from staying in my room for so long. I mean, yeah, it clears my mind, but I can _hear_ all my thoughts at the same time. And I really need to do this.”

“Are you hearing voices, Perseus?”

Percy didn’t even think about keeping track of how many times he’d been asked that question. “No, I just know what I want to do.”

“Alright,” Dionysus stood to retrieve some documents he’d had out on his desk. He looked over them once before handing half to Percy. “You will have to give detailed descriptions about the happenings within your household – mostly the bad and the ugly.”

Percy bit his lip. “All of it?”

“Most of it. And then we’ll need to get at least two other accounts that match yours. That part may prove to be a bit more difficult.”

The boy stared down at the top page. “You’ve got that right.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“…one person, but I don’t know how to contact him. And when I do, I don’t know if he’ll help me or just defend Gabe.”

“One of his former colleagues, then?”

“Poker buds. He came into the bar during my shift, once.”

“Ah.”

After another minute of contemplation, Percy stood. “Well, thanks for seeing me. I’ll go and start filling these out.” With a shake of the hand and a nod of the head, the boy headed back to his own room, another patient taking his place on the couch.

 

**_P_ **

 

Percy would have been sure it was still winter had Thalia not burst through his door on one of the coldest mornings he had ever faced, singing ‘Here Comes the Sun’ at the top of her lungs. “It’s spring, you freaking groundhog!”

Still wearing her own gloves, jacket, and scarf, she rushed over to the heap on the ground and tore Percy’s blanket right off of him, exposing him to the cold that burrowed in the rest of the room. He hissed and curled up into a ball.

“Don’t be so dramatic, and get up and dance with me! Springtime is here!”

“It’s too cold,” He mumbled. “Give me my blanket back.”

“Take a shower and you’ll feel warmer.”

“I’m not in the mood for a shower today.”

Her lip twitched downwards. That was a statement that she hadn’t heard in a long time. “Alright, well, then put on some clothes. Let’s go to the park.”

“It’s. Too. _Cold,_ ” He repeated.

“I. Heard. You. The. _First_. Time. Get up.”

“Have mercy,” He tugged at the corner of the throw.

“Jason _really_ rubbed off on you,” She commented, and that shut him up real quick. She didn’t know whether to feel triumphant, awkward, sad, or hopeful. She went for the easiest one to voice. “Aaaand this conversation is over. Hurry, we’re losing daylight.”

“Why are you so intent on going to the park, anyway?” And then he noticed the ball of fluff sticking its head out of her fanny pack (he would tease her about that later). “Tyson?” It perked up at the sound of its name.

He groaned, pushing himself up off the floor from some super push up and into the standing position. He muttered something about ‘ten minutes’ before shutting the bedroom door behind him.

“Alright,” She clapped her hands, pet the little hedge hog for accomplishing what she’d brought him here for, and headed straight for Percy’s counter. She hoped for a chance to go through his phone – maybe see any _other_ pictures of her brother she might have missed – and found not the cell, but a stack of papers.

She immediately knew she wasn’t supposed to be looking at them when the first page she glanced at had the words ‘criminal case’ printed across the top in capital letters. But her mind (of course) didn’t work that way, and she moved down to read the subsequent writing. 

Thalia almost couldn’t read the handwriting that had been written, erased, and rewritten multiple times (yet another instance when Percy’s dyslexia became painfully apparent), but a few words popped out at her: abuse, physical, emotional, choking, locking, drowning. Of all of them, drowning appeared only once once, and was written so that all the letters that were legible were the ‘d’, ‘w’, and ‘ing’. 

She pulled the page closer to her and read down the section, not finding any explanation. The next four, five, six pages were filled with details, presumably explaining the summary from the first page. Thalia pulled away when she felt her own stomach begin to turn.

She was sitting on the floor and petting the little mammal when Percy emerged from the bedroom in a bundle of blue clothes. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Okay.” The blue streak pulled herself off the floor and headed towards the door while Percy went for his cell phone and keys. She didn’t notice him glance at the moved stack of papers and then glance at her, only turned to see him walking towards her with keys in hand. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

They walked in silence, something Peryc was hoping for. He didn’t always just _leave_ his things out for the world to see, especially when knowing that Thalia could get into his apartment at virtually anytime – everything that was left out was strategically placed so that only specific people could see it.

He’d found that leaving out pieces of information that explained a situation all too well took away the challenge of having to tell someone verbally, to form words for specific things. Thalia was too nosy for her own good – and now it worked in his favor.

He was actually glad she was the first to know. When he’d taken the pages from Dionysus the week before, he’d been at a complete loss about how to tell the strong female quartet about _anything_. And now it was so easy. He just prayed that she would share it with them instead of waiting for him.

“(He knew he was a coward.)

 “I can’t believe it’s still snowing,” Thalia commented, crunching ice beneath her boots. “Well, it’s only the first day.”

“I love snow. Spring is – eh. Winter is better.” Percy purposefully stepped in every puddle as they walked, splashing his sock but not caring enough to stop. Thalia maintained a two foot distance between them to keep her own feet dry.

“Not into the season of love, are we?” she laughed at the face he made. “I had no idea you were so aromantic.”

He frowned and raised an eyebrow at her in distaste. “I think you need to double check your definition of the word,” He rolled his eyes. “I doubt I’d get any girls that way. Guys, maybe, but no girls.”

They hopped down the steps to the over crowded subway. You used to date girls?”

“Girls and guys, yeah. When I had the chance.”

“Too busy being a _nationally ranked swimmer_?” She sounded so obnoxiously proud of herself.

He sighed. “I figured Reyna’d spill some time soon.”

“I practically had to force it out of her. She didn’t even actually tell me – she just gave me her yearbook and walked away.” She grinned at his slightly horrified gasp. “You used to be so cute, you know that? With some of the chubbiest cheeks I have ever seen.”

“Stop.”

“And wow, you were _ripped_ for a sixteen year—”

 _“Stop,”_ he hissed, holding onto one of the straps hanging from the rails as the doors closed. “And focus on holding onto Tyson during the ride.”

Thalia, too short to reach, only held onto his suspended arm. “I’m just complimenting you; you don’t have to be so self conscious.” 

He pointedly ignored her and took out his phone, expertly unlocking and speeding through his apps. 

She couldn’t see the screen unless she hopped from her very tiptoes, and she didn’t want to accidentally slam into another passenger (or send Tyson flying into the lap of one). New Yorkers were scary, she had learned upon moving.

“Why do you smell like paint?” Cut through her thoughts, and she found him burying his nose in her short hair and sniffing deeply. “Why does your _hair_ smell like paint?”

“Maybe because I was _painting_ , jackass,” she shoved him away with a gloved hand. “And the smell just gets everywhere. That’s oils for you.”

Percy blinked down at his companion. “You’re painting again?”

“Yup!” She brightened. “The new apartment has this extra room that we turned into a studio thing. Reyna’s half has her bass and an old piano, my side has paint junk. It’s awesome. You, should, come, visit, some, time,” She poked his ribs at each word. 

“That sounds awesome.” He brought his phone wielding hand down to tuck hair behind his ear, flashing the screen at her for just a second. Text messages from a number he hadn’t saved. He shut off the phone and put it back in his pocket as the doors slid open and they poured out of the car.

The park came into sight within minutes, the station being only a street away. As they approached, the sheer number of people in the park began to take speed out of Percy’s pace. She watched his face morph from an expression of indifference, to disappointment, and then – to extreme excitement. 

“Oh, right, it’s Friday.”

Friday morning at central park meant _all the dogs were at the park_. It made a little more sense why Tyson was brought along in such weather. “Maybe he can get himself a little girlfriend.”

“We’re not advocating a hedgehog-Chihuahua cross,” He scooped the excited little wiggler from her pack and held him to her chest. “He’s gotten so big. Gosh, I haven’t seen you in _months._ ” He touched his nose to the baby animal’s pointed one.

Thalia grinned and wondered how Jason had chosen an absolutely _perfect_ Christmas gift. Now Percy’s motherly tendencies could actually be put to use, and on something that would love him unconditionally for all his emotional baggage (although she knew of one other who fit such a description). “Alright, put him down.”

“Are you insane?” He looked at her like she was, holding Tyson out of her reach. “He could get frostbite, or pneumonia, or _eaten_. We can’t put him down here.”

“Then why’d we bring him?”

“I dunno, you were the one with all the brilliant ideas.” While he was speaking, he lowered himself to a crouch to pet an approaching dog the size of about a hundred and fifty Tyson’s. He kept the baby out of reach, but hugged the dog like he was a brother.

Her phone rang loudly while she was in the middle of snapping pictures and she answered it in a rush. Stepping under the shelter of a tree, “Hello?”

 _“Hey, sis! Got a sec?”_ A dog barked playfully at her side and she (didn’t even have to bend down) reached over to scratch its head. _“Was that a dog?”_

“Yeah, I’m at the park. What’s up?”

_“Okay, so I’m working on a little resume slash job application slash college application slash portfolio thing and I need some help with ordering around my stuff. Do I talk about when and why I dropped out of high school or do I—”_

“First of all. You do _not_ refer to it as ‘dropping out of high school’. It’s ‘I was _cast_ in an off-Broadway production at sixteen years old and was pulled out of high school to go on tour’. Does that example answer your question?”

She could hear him laughing away from the receiver. _“I — yeah, it does. Thanks, sis.”_

The blue streak waved over a lost looking teen to her spot. He approached with three owner-less dogs in tow, not even realizing he had a personal entourage. “Anytime, little _bro_.”

“Who are you talking to?” Percy bent down in front of her to give more attention to the other animals trying to hop into his lap. Tyson observed comfortably from Percy’s breast pocket.

She mouthed an incoherent reply before noticing Jason had gone silent. “Hey, you still there?”

_“Yeah, just. Is Percy there?”_

Her eyes swiveled almost comically to Percy’s still confused ones. “Yeah, he’s right here.” A contemplative pause. “Do you want to talk to him?” Percy would probably murder her if she gave him the phone now, with virtually no way out.

 _“Um,”_ He hesitated, and she could just see him rubbing the back of his neck. And then he gave her the opposite of what she was expecting. _“No. That’s okay.”_

“O…kay,” She replied with the same hesitation.

Percy scratched dog ears, oblivious.

 


	24. We Don’t Talk About New Years’

**XXIV**

**We Don’t Talk About New Years’**

 

Warning: strong language, mentions of abuse, mentions of suicide.

 

“Repeat your accusation.”

Percy folded his hands in his lap. “Gabriel Ugliano is guilty of murder and attempted murder.”

“Explain your accusation, part by part.”

“The murder part is simple. He drove my mother to suicide through constant verbal and physical abuse, neither of which I was able to prevent.”

“Are you prepared to stand by that statement?”

“Yes.”

“Explain the second part.”

“The attempted murder happened the night before that. I was filling up the tub, because he always wanted to take a bath before going to sleep. He came into the bathroom and,” His voice caught in his throat. The listening legal officials’ gazes softened as they patiently waited. “He pushed me into the tub and held me under the water by my neck until I passed out.” He stopped.

“How did you survive?”

“My mother told me she found me right after he left the bathroom. She pulled me out of the water and resuscitated me right there.” He took a deep breath.

“Are you prepared to stand by that statement?”

“Absolutely.”

The lawyer jotted down a few more notes before checking the time. “That’s all I needed for today.” He turned off the recorder, standing and shaking Percy’s hand. “You’re going to be alright, Percy.” The other three with him also shook his hand before vacating Dionysus’ office.

The doctor himself sat, looking mildly surprised – which, on a man like him, meant he was stunned. He rubbed his mouth with a calloused hand before scribbling on a pad with his pen. “Are you alright?” He finally asked.

Percy looked over from where he’d been staring at the door. He rubbed the back of his head, careful to avoid the ponytail he’d tied up. “I think so.” He nodded once. “Can I go back to my room?”

“You may.”

He gave a small thank you and climbed up the steps in the hallway to his haven. He didn’t want to throw up in Dionysus’ apartment, because he was pretty sure _something_ was going to come up and he didn’t want to find out what in front of someone.

He locked the door behind him and went straight for the jug of water in the fridge, chugging the entire thing. Gods, he was _dizzy_. Too much talking about bad subjects in one day, he decided. He checked the phone he’d left on his counter.

_Missed call: Thals_

_Missed call: Annabeth Chase_

_Missed call: Annabeth Chase_

He decided to call the blond first, knowing she’d have a more rational look on things than the flame headed blue streak. “Hello?”

_“Percy? How did it go?”_

He leaned against the counter edge. “They just wanted me to repeat the facts, and then they’re taking the evidence to the judge who presided over my case.”

_“They’re going to clear your name?”_

“They’ll try.” He felt like she somehow knew he had shrugged. “How is Tyson?”

She laughed on the other end. _“Missing you every day. He still sleeps by your picture every night.”_

“Are you making him fat?”

_“That’s for you to judge.”_

He rolled his eyes. “Why is Thalia calling me?” 

Something shifted on Annabeth’s end. _“She wanted to give you the good news.”_

“Good news?”

_“Call her.”_

“Can’t you just tell me?”

_“Call her.”_

He very maturely hung up on her, and then dialed the number for the punk rock painter. She hadn’t come by in more than two weeks (a personal record), saying she was working on her ‘big painting project’ and needed to be left alone.

He was three seconds into his voicemail when her voice cut through, breathless and excited. _“Percy?”_

“Who else?”

_“Oh my goodness, you’ll never believe the news I have for you.”_

“Do tell.”

She gave a sneaky snicker and he actually felt him sweat a bit. _Damn_ it, she’d trained him to have these embarrassing habits. _“How long’s it been since new years’, Percy?”_

He felt his stomach drop. _I thought we don’t talk about New Year’s_ , he stopped himself from saying by counting down the months. “Five.”

_“That took a little longer than I thought it would.”_

“Just – what is the good news?”

 _“How did you know it was good – wait, did Annabeth already tell you?”_ Percy groaned dramatically into the receiver and she laughed. _“Sorry, sorry. Wait, I’m sending you a poster right now.”_

“For what?” He asked, just as his phone vibrated with a text.

 _“For a date.”_ He opened it up and blinked irritatedly at the bright yellow text against a black background. When the squiggles started to form into letters, he knew he was getting somewhere. _“Still there?”_ He ignored her and focused on trying to _read_.

He read it once. And then twice. And then a third time, and something clicked. He scrolled down to the cast list, sucking in his cheeks. 

 _“‘Footloose is back on the stage,’”_ She read the headline of the poster out loud to him, impatient. _“‘With an all new cast and movers from the hit original, Rent!. Extras’ auditions to be held at the casters’ on 42_ _nd_ _.’ Percy, they’re coming back to work here.”_

“Yeah, Thals, I can read.” It came out sounding a little grumpier than he’d intended. He wasn’t angry, as much as a weight had suddenly fallen in the pit of his stomach. He started to count the fish on the new dishes he’d bought the day before, because he was _not_ going to have an attack while on the phone with a Grace again.

_“Calm down, sassypants. And be excited, your better half’s coming back for you.”_

“Thalia, we’re not dating.”

_“Whaatever, Percy. I know you have the need to sacrifice yourself and become an emotional martyr but really, this is one of the worst decisions you have ever made.”_

_Don’t you think I’ve already figured that out by now_? He didn’t get to say, because he was walking to the bathroom one second and kneeling in front of the toilet the next, struggling to cough up something he hadn’t eaten. He’d dropped his phone somewhere behind him, the call still running, and then everything hit him in waves.

He’d learned that vomiting sometimes damaged the throat and that it was normal, but seeing himself vomit blood always sparked some kind of irrational fear in him. He sat back, trying to get as far away from the bowl as physically possible. Before anything could work its way up again, he pushed himself to his feet and rinsed his mouth out in the sink. Flushed the toilet, and then rinsed again.

The call was still running, and Percy was mortified. He contemplated hanging up before raising it to his ear. “Hello?”

_“What the fuck happened? Are you okay?”_

“Yeah, I just – I ate something bad.”

_“You are a disgustingly terrible liar.”_

_Or maybe you’re just disgustingly good at seeing through lies_. “It wasn’t anything you said, I promise.”

_“Do you want me to come over? I can—”_

“Gods, Thalia, _no_. I’m alright, it was just a little.”

_“Your voice sounds scratchy. I’m sending Rey—”_

“Calm. _Down_ , Thals. I was thinking about other things. I had a, uh. There was a meeting about the case and my statements.” Out of the frying pan and into the fire. “It was just a lot to think about at once.”

_“A meeting? How did it go?”_

“Okay, I guess. They just wanted more confirmation. I kind of came out of nowhere with my claims, after all.” He hadn’t pursued or even hinted to anything about Gabe’s tendencies before two months ago, and then everything had come pouring out all together. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

_“I just listened to you vomit up, like, three pounds of ick, and you’re telling me ‘it was nothing’?”_

“You’re thinking too much into it. I’m not made of glass.”

 _“Says who?”_ He couldn’t even think of an answer to that question _. “Are you sure you don’t need me to come over?”_

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just – work on your project or something. You wanted to finish it by July, right?”

_“Call me if you need anything.”_

“I will.”

 _“No, you won’t; I’ll call again in half an hour to check if you’re still alive. If you don’t pick up, I’m driving over with Piper and Reyna in the back.”_ He shuddered at the threat. _“Feel better, Percy_ ,” She finished, before letting him end the call.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Stop moving,” Annabeth called kindly, prompting Percy to do just that. She was sitting on the sofa and he was sitting on the floor in between her legs, brushing Tyson’s hair with a Barbie brush while she worked on making little braids in his now shoulder length hair.

“Do I need a haircut?” He asked , because he wasn’t totally averse to getting one. It just wouldn’t be as fun to run his hands through it anymore or to do that girl thing with the twirling and tugging. _And_ Valdez Jr. wouldn’t have anything left to play with, since the boy _adored_ Percy’s hair.

“No, I think this hair suits you.” Annabeth dropped the little braid and started on another one that would pull back his bangs and let him actually _see_ two inches in front of him. She liked his hair longer because it emulated the image she had in her mind of ‘surfer Percy’. “It matches the tattoos.” He had no idea.

“Okay,” He hummed, and the hedgie in his hand hummed back. He nuzzled it with his nose before continuing to smooth out its stomach with the plastic brush. “I don’t want to scare off potential friends,” He added, making her chuckle.

“I think people will naturally be drawn to you. You have that weird magnetic aura.”

“Ha-ha.”

“I’m not lying. Why do you think you have so many close friends? And you’ve lived here for only nine months. It isn’t a coincidence that so many people love you.”

“You sound like Thalia.”

“ _You_ need to learn how to take a compliment. Of all the possible problems, I didn’t expect you to have low self esteem.”

“You’re not inside my head. Secretly, I’m this ego driven priss who thinks he’s better than half this planet.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She looped another tiny band onto his braid and dropped it, leaning back to admire her work. Can you see now?”

He blinked and looked up, surprised at not having hair blind him. “Wow, yeah. Thanks. Can you teach me how to do that?”

“How to braid?”

“Yeah.”

She stared down at him for a second, wondering if he was being sarcastic again, before smiling. “Sure.” Tyson broke their moment by squeaking, waving his arms in a desperate need for attention. Percy picked him up in a cradle hold, cooing him into tranquility. “He’s so needy.”

“Like father, like son.”

Annabeth ran her hand through Percy’s silky hair, envious of the Jackson-McLean family for their epic thick and soft genes. “Your hair is so nice, I could come here just to braid it.”

“Would you?”

“But I don’t have the time. Or the gas. Or the money for the taxi—”

“Alright, I understand.” He began to massage the Australian hedgehog’s tummy with his thumbs, smiling down at the little creature. “So, what’s the _real_ reason you come here today? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just for a hair play date.”

The blonde continued to pull his hair back, smoothing it out for a messy half ponytail. “Well, Thalia actually sent me to see if—”

“I _knew_ it.”

She laughed. “Besides that, she wants me to convince you to go meet Jason.”

He half turned with a raised eyebrow. “And what did you say?”

Annabeth shrugged. “I told her Jason’s the type to come after you himself.”

Percy groaned. “Does no one understand that we’re not together?”

“We understand, Percy, but it’s just difficult to understand when he’s so _good_ for you. And when you’re so good for him. And you two are good for each other.” His neck burned at her openness and she smiled. “I know there are things you’re working past right now, but they’re not things best worked through alone.”

“I’m doing great by myself.”

“Do you really need me to prove you wrong out loud? With the nausea and the solitariness and the fact that you’ve regressed back to being completely against water again?”

“It’s not completely, it’s just when my full body is involved.”

“That’s why I’m _worrying_. It’s May, the month of rain. What are you going to do? Just lock yourself up inside the entire time?”

“It worked last month.”

She looked like she was going to slap him. In Percy’s hands, Tyson lay back in a nap position, his small chest rising and falling almost imperceptibly. They instinctively lowered their voices. “Is there anything you want to talk about? About the case or anything?”

She’d changed the subject, and he wondered why. Usually she hated changing the flow of a conversation like that. “I don’t think I want to talk about that with anyone, Annabeth.”

Her hands running through his hair paused on his facial tattoo, finally taking the moment to trace deep ridges that didn’t just appear when someone got inked. The line was irregular, jagged, and deep, and she had a sinking feeling she knew what it was.

He must’ve known what she was thinking of because he pulled himself out of her hold and tightened the ponytail. “You already proofread my summary, and that should have given enough of an overview.”

“I don’t – I _do_ want to know what happened, but not as much as I want you to tell someone. Whether it’s opening up or just venting randomly, you will feel better.” She promised him in her mind, hoping he would somehow understand.

“Alright, Annabeth. I’ll find someone.”

“And it doesn’t have to be Jason.”

“I know.”

“Thalia’s not going to force you either.”

“Yeah.”

“And Reyna really, really thinks about you. And you already know about Piper.”

“I know.”

“And I’m here too, Percy. I’m here all the time. There’s not much a student can do here but party and study, and I’m not much of a club goer.” She ruffled the hair she’d just fixed and stood, stepping over him to get to her purse and their things splayed out on the counters. “We should seriously go watch the musical, though. Thalia apparently got great discount prices on tickets.”

“I think it would be better for me to avoid that area right now.”

“I didn’t know you were the type to be scared of your exes.” He gave her a dirty look. “Alright, then just hide out in this empty, undecorated, spacious, made-for-two apartment. I’ll be out having fun and meeting people and—”

“Studying?” They laughed. “Thanks for coming, Annabeth. I was actually starting to get bored in here.” He poured the sleeping figure of his animal baby into her cupped palms, careful not to wake Tyson. 

She gave him a knowing smile. “Or starting to go crazy.”

 


	25. Impact

**XXV**

**Impact**

Warning: strong language.

 

He imagined it would be like getting hit by a truck, but he was wrong. It wasn’t a collision – instead, it felt like that horrible moment right before impact, except prolonged for the entire few seconds he stood frozen in his doorway.

His visitor, though shivering and dripping rain everywhere, waited patiently for the boy to collect himself. He pulled off his soaked jacket and ran a hand through his hair, his button down underneath clinging to him with wetness. Like Percy had thought a thousand times before, he looked like a model.

Since the green eyed boy couldn’t really trust his mouth to open and form coherent words, he just opened the door the rest of the way and let the taller male into the apartment, randomly noticing he left his shoes outside.

The blond hung his jacket in Percy’s coat closet by the door to dry and then stood in Percy’s kitchen, the only place he could drip without getting the carpet wet. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

He still hadn’t regained full control of his tongue yet. “Oh.” _Oh? Really?_ Did he just make a sound of surprise at finding out that his apartment was nice? The blond didn’t seem too weird-ed out by the answer and only rolled up his sleeves. Percy remembered his courtesies. “Oh.”

The stage actor had the gall to look _amused_ while Percy and his limited vocabulary tossed him a towel from a cabinet. He went into his bedroom and mechanically pulled out clothes that would fit the bigger, taller, handsome-r blond.

When he turned around to head beck out of the room he walked right into his guest’s very wet chest. He backed up, but choked back his third ‘oh’. He ignored the small smile aimed at him and put the clothes in the blond’s hands. “Bathroom,” He pointed to the door.

“Thanks.” The taller boy nodded and headed inside.

Once he was gone, Percy whipped out his phone and called the _one person_ who most likely knew exactly what was going on.

_“Thalia Grace is busy at the moment. Please leave a messa—”_

Alright, next option. There were only so many contacts he had on his phone.

_“Hello?”_

“Annabeth,”

_“Oh, Per—”_

“What is going _on_?” Laughter bubbled on the other end of the line. “What’s so funny?”

 _“It’s just, wow. Thalia says sorry, because Jason literally just called her and asked the exact same question.”_ Now he could hear the older Grace’s voice in the background, and the younger Grace’s from the bathroom. _“It was all her idea, by the way.”_

“That’s why I tried to call her first. Why is Jason freaking Grace here?”

_“Did you kick him out?”_

“No I didn’t _kick him out_ , I – he’s changing in my bathroom.”

_More laughter and he could feel his neck burn from the rising blood. “Oh Percy, you’re so precious.”_

“Are you going to answer my question?”

 _“Well, he wanted to come over and see Thalia. She told him she moved, but ‘accidentally’ gave him the wrong address.”_ He figured it was that or something equally as stupid. _“Are you going to kick him out?”_ He wanted to tell her ‘yes’, he really did. _“That’s good. He just needs a place to spend the night, and then we’ll be by to pick him up in the morning.”_

“You had better.”

 _“Good night, Percy.”_ The phone line clicked.

The taller Grace emerged from the bathroom in Percy’s perfect sized pants and a little-too-small shirt a half minute later, slipping his phone into the pajama pocket. “Thanks. Sorry I took so long.”

Percy looked up from where he was moving boxes and shrugged. “It’s no problem.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “You need help with that?”

The shorter boy weighed his options. “Help would be much appreciated.” He pushed one of the larger boxes towards the wall, push push pushing until it joined the others. When he turned around, Jason was carrying two boxes at once in his arms and set them beside Percy’s. (Percy stopped himself from gaping.)

“Are these the boxes you had before?”

“Yeah,” The longer haired boy was surprised he remembered. They stacked the last two boxes against the wall and they sat back on the floor to admire the sudden amount of space the bedroom had. Percy watched Jason from the corner of his eye. “So. You’re back in New York?”

Jason looked over. “Yeah. There was a problem at the studio in LA so we’re moving it back here, where the theaters are.”

Percy hummed, looking back at the wall. He didn’t want to hold eye contact for too long.

After a moment, he felt a tug on his hair. He turned in the direction of the sensation and fingers brushed against his nose. Jason recoiled his hand. “Sorry,” He quickly apologized. “I just – your hair grew.”

The resident instinctively brought a hand up to touch the braid holding back his bangs. “I didn’t feel like cutting it. Annabeth likes braiding it, though.” Jason smiled and Percy accidentally smiled back. Then he looked away, still uncomfortable.

“Sorry to barge in in the middle of the night,” The blond apologized again. “I thought this was Thalia’s new address. I can go—”

“Dude, I’m not kicking you out. You don’t need to be sorry for anything.” Percy hated the ensuing silence, the awkward eating away at the atmosphere. He stood, fully expecting his guest to mirror the action. “But we’ll have to sleep on the floor again, since I haven’t gotten around to buying myself a bed.”

That brought a laugh out of the shock blue eyed visitor. “How long have you been staying here?” He followed Percy out to the empty loft, where Percy pulled out pillows and blankets from a cabinet and tossed them out behind him.

“About five months.”

“Oh, so around New Years’.” That was a quick jump into territory none of them wanted to get into. “Cool.” He evaded the topic with skill. “Um, do you still work at the bar?”

Percy shook his head. “I’m not stable enough yet. I’m covered until after the – until my doctor says so.” The break in his statement had been a little too unnatural for his taste. “I’m kind of just a freeloader here for now.”

When he turned back around to see why Jason was so quiet, he found the blond’s gaze fixed pointedly at Percy’s ankle. He looked down at his half bare legs, his shorts ending just below his knees. The silver anklet blinked with a dull green light.

When the Grace met his eyes, Percy knew that the boy had a pretty good idea of what Percy’s accessory was. So Percy turned around and didn’t say a word, only kept on throwing out blankets until the cabinet was empty. And then he stared at the space, trying a little too hard to calm down.

Annabeth was wrong. Jason wasn’t god for him – Jason was very, very bad. Twenty minutes in and he felt like he wanted to destroy something (but at least that ‘something’ wasn’t himself). He breathed and turned back around. The stage actor had long since torn his gaze away and was sitting on the floor beside a flattened space in the shape of Percy.

The owner of the apartment stood behind the blond, staring at the back collar of the shirt he’d given. Jason seemed oblivious to Percy’s stare. Or maybe he knew, but didn’t really care. “You got bigger.” Even his own eyebrows shot up at the depth of the statement. _You were always known for your finesse, Jackson._

“Yeah, I mean. I had a growth spurt while I was away. I’m six foot five now.” _Holy shit_ , was the first thing that went through Percy’s mind. _Now he’ll forever be taller than me_. The second thought had something to do with how he could now tease the older Grace about being a foot and a half shorter than her baby brother.

“Wow.” He sat down beside the blond, unsure of what to do next.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Percy?”

For a second the boy was afraid that he’d woken the blond with his constant shifting, but the voice proved that they both had been awake for a while. “Hmm?”

“This is kind of a random question. Like maybe a little creepy, stalker-ish, obsessive—”

“What’s the question?”

“Are you seeing someone?”

Well. That was absolutely the _last_ thing he’d expected, and he had absolutely no idea how the blond could have arrived at the conclusion, but “no.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“Oh. Okay.” Shifts, and Jason burrowed deeper into his blanket.

They would have thought the other had fallen asleep had they not subconsciously begun to match breathing. It was too quiet for a night in this part of the city, with no sirens or constant honks or people yelling at each other in the street.

They listened to each other breathe, too much distance between to do much else.

 

**_P_ **

 

“Thanks for letting me spend the night,” Jason thanked.

“It was really no problem.” A little awkward, but not a hassle. “Tell Thals I said hey.”

“I will,” Jason gave a small bow of the head before turning around and shutting the door behind him.

The moment he was gone, Percy sighed and ran a hand roughly through his hair. It was more than taxing to see the blond, to have him _stay over_ for a night, and he hadn’t been sure he’d even make it through the night for a few hours.

All he could think about was the boy sleeping on the floor a few feet away, the sound of his light snoring chasing away any other thoughts Percy’s brain could turn into nightmares. It was good until it was bad, scratching at the back of his mind.

He took another breath and exhaled, ready to move on with things.

Too early. The door creaked before slamming open all at once and the blond strode in, looking almost desperate for something. He didn’t slow even when he’d walked close to Percy, so the smaller boy backed up, up, up, into the bar counter behind him. And _still_ Jason didn’t stop until he was less than a foot away.

A moment of silence and trying to read each other’s expressions, and then Jason took a step in his direction and a leap into his personal space. “Jas—” Percy reflexively brought a forearm up to push Jason’s chest away, but the boy wasn’t going to get any closer than that. His arms came down on Percy’s sides, barring him in. “Jason, what are you—”

“You know, I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

Percy took a breath, trying to breathe air but instead breathing Grace. “Do what?”

“Ignore my calls. Not pick up.”

Percy’s jaw clenched.

“I thought, I assumed – the first two months, I thought a _lot_. It was hard, but maybe you actually needed your space. But you never – five months later, and I can barely talk to you without,” He sucked in a breath.

Jason’s heart beat at a mile a minute beneath Percy’s open palm, his breath warm against the skin of his arm. There was some force against his resistance and so Percy kept it up between them, some sort of desperate physical buffer.

Jason blinked twice and then looked up at the ceiling, blinking twice again. He let out another breath of hot air, trying very hard to breathe, something Percy faced all too often. “This, was a terrible idea.” He laughed pathetically, his hands fisting at the edge of the counter.

Percy still didn’t speak, too scared of saying something incriminating. He was such a _coward_. He couldn’t even bring himself to try and make the boy in front of him stop _hurting_. “I’m sorry,” It sounded dry and scratchy and so, so bad.

Jason dropped his head to bring his eyes level with Percy’s. “I don’t want you to apologize. Don’t – I don’t want an apology.” His breath came out in a shudder. “ _I_ want to apologize. _I_ want to say ‘sorry’, because I couldn’t – I _can’t_ do anything.”

All the green eyed boy could try to do was for his lips for another apology.

“Don’t,” Jason warned, and Percy didn’t. “I didn’t come here to complain to you. I didn’t come back here to whine about my problems, though that seems to be exactly what I’m doing. I can’t even remember my original reason for walking back in here.”

The hands at Percy’s sides loosened, dropping back at Jason’s.

“I’m so pathetic,” He muttered to himself, fisting a hand in his short hair.

Percy’s own arm dropped, only empty distance between them now. He watched Jason’s shoulders tense, like he was trying to stop them from shaking, and tried to make sense of the sudden clamor of noises in his head.

He went with the loudest one, reaching out his hand and using it to pull Jason’s wrist out of the way. “Jason, you’re not—”

“All I could think about,” He glared at Percy’s eyes, softened involuntarily and then refocused his anger at Percy’s mouth, “was why I couldn’t help you. Last night, I just went through reason after reason, just like I did the last time we ever spoke to each other, just like almost every night since then. Our less than clean breakup left me feeling more than broken.”

“No one can help me if I don’t want them to,” Percy spat, too venomously.

“Why don’t you want to be helped?” Jason’s own volume rose and he leaned in imposingly.

“I don’t know,” Percy brought up both arms to push the bigger boy back. “I don’t know. Please, Jason, this was going to end so _well_.”

“I was going to walk out of here like what had happened between us hadn’t happened. I was going to walk out like I’d just spent the night at a hotel, alone, with no one but guilt himself to keep me company.”

_You’re being so dramatic, you blond idiotic Grace._

“I saw you in the doorway, and. And it was like nothing had happened. I saw you and I just wanted to, I wanted to just pick you up and,” he brought a hand up to cover his eyes, sighing in frustration. “I just wanted to kiss you right there, like nothing happened. Like five months that felt like five years just _never happened_.”

Percy felt his own stomach drop, felt like he was holding something too heavy in his chest and it hurt so _much_. With the last scrap of resolve he didn’t know he had, he took a breath. “Jason, I—”

The blond dropped his hand and his eye contact silenced Percy. After a moment he leaned forwards, his body pressing Percy back to the counter and his face coming so, so close—

He stopped just a breath away. Percy’s hand on his collar held him back just barely. When Jason’s own hand clasped around the shorter boy’s wrist, the latter felt his own heartbeat speed up, too quickly. The blond was strong enough to just pull Percy’s hand away, and the longer haired boy felt his own breath begin to match his heart.

Jason’s dark but never cold blue eyes drifted to the resident’s barely open mouth, and then back to his green. With a silent exhale he brought Percy’s wrist to his lips and kissed the inked butterfly on the inside, closing his eyes for just a short moment. The tattooed boy exhaled in a rush.

“Jason,” Percy breathed after the boy was long gone and then, he felt the impact.


	26. Free

**XXVI**

**Free**

Warning: mentions of abuse, mentions of depression.

 

Thalia knocked twice on the door before continuing to tap her foot impatiently.

It was one of the few occasions when she wouldn’t just let herself into his apartment without his consent. She wasn’t sure what mood he was in, because only an hour ago had Jason shown up at her door, looking two words away from bursting into tears. She wasn’t able to comfort (or interrogate) him before he had to leave for a rehearsal, but the cause was most likely behind this door.

“Percy!” She called after making sure no one else was in the hallway. She didn’t want to get kicked out during her act of heroism. Two more knocks, ten taps of the foot. Another knock, seven more taps. She was about to put her fist through the door when it opened, finally.

She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind and found him looking oddly upset. Not obviously so, but his cheeks were sucked in and his eyebrows were just barely scrunched together. “What?” He asked, not unkindly.

She stood there with mouth open for a long moment. “What happened to you? Two?” She added, so that he was completely aware that she knew everything had something to do with her blond baby brother.

“Nothing.” He started to close the door.

She shoved the toe of her boot in the doorway, stopping him. “Don’t be annoying, Percy.”

“Then stop butting into everything, Thalia,” He replied in the same irritated tone, pushing her boot out and shutting the door. She knew he was actually angry when he locked it and walked away, because in his senses Percy would have stayed in front of the door.

With a few calculated flicks of her bobby pin, Thalia had thrown off her shoes and was inside the apartment and standing above starfish Percy, who had covered his face with a pillow like a five year old. “Percy.”

“Get out.”

“Make me.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“And you’re _so_ mature.” He tried to ignore her, and she kicked the pillow off his face. His eyes were closed and his expression was neutral. “Jason came home and cried.”

His eyes flew open and fixed on hers. Talking to the girl was so easy when she had the eyes of the boy. “He did?”

And then she felt a little bad for lying to him. “No, but he looked like he was about to.”

He fixed her with a withering glare before shutting his eyes. “Leave.”

“No.”

“Right now.”

“No.”

“I _will_ get up and kick you out.”

“Do it.” He pushed off his hands and onto his feet (ever the show off) and lifted her off hers. She kicked and wriggled and his arms didn’t budge as he carried her like a sack to the door. “You know I’ll just get back in!” She shouted when he slammed it in her face.

“Do it!” He shouted back.

She yelled an animalistic scream at him and he replied with his own, and then she stomped out of the hall before any other residents could come out and call the cops on her.

 

**_P_ **

 

Percy knew he was acting immature and stupid and reckless and like _such_ a _teenager_. But he had held back on that for two years and now he felt like it was time to just pour it all out on someone.

It was like the ‘first time’ they broke up he hadn’t actually processed it. It had just felt like a five year break, with one phone call that started it all. Like a fight or something. And then, _bam_ , actual meeting in person and he just felt like _scum._

His phone rang from somewhere on the other end of the loft and he spent minutes just trying to convince himself to go check it. He army crawled to the location and turned on the phone.

 _Open the door, please._ Annabeth’s short and succinct text message pulled him from his mopey attitude long enough for him to follow her order.

“Good morning, Percy,” She smiled, always sunshine, always sweet. She let herself in and closed the door with the hand that wasn’t balancing a covered tray. “I brought cinnamon buns.” He gave a tired small as they sat cross legged on the ground, under the sunlight coming in from the windows. She pulled off the foil and the smell wafting off _blue_ cinnamon buns filled the loft.

That was it. There was still love in this world, and she was its embodiment.

“I also brought junior,” She laughed and pulled a small carrier off her shoulder, unzipping it so that Percy’s adopted child could tumble out with a squeak.

Tyson blinked in the light and, upon noticing Percy, crawled over to him as fast as he could and sat himself down in Percy’s lap. Annabeth gave the hedgehog a piece of okay-for-animal food and he began munching it down.

When she looked back at Percy, he was already biting into one of the treats she’d brought. He nibble a piece, and then put the whole thing in his mouth. “Is it good?” He nodded with filled cheeks. She smiled. “I didn’t really have time to taste them before I left my place. I’m glad you like them.”

“They taste really familiar,” He reached for a second.

“Yeah, I got the recipe from a candy shop’s website. I think it was IT’SUGAR or something.”

And that seemed to do it for him. He brought both of his hands to cover his face and held his breath. Annabeth guessed that he was trying his hardest not to break. She crawled over to his side of the tray and patted Percy’s back. “It’s alright, Percy,” She said, hoping she could get through that last wall to him.

He shook his head silently, as if trying to tell himself that _no,_ it was _not_ okay.

“It is, it really is. I promise you.”

With that, he froze to his position, holding his breath and everything else. A drop of hot water dripped onto an oblivious Tyson’s head, who looked up at Percy with a look of confusion. When no one moved, he returned to his food.

The blonde sat up on her knees and hugged the boy to her chest, running her long fingers in his hair and letting him muffle himself in her shirt. It didn’t take him long to return the embrace and hug her closer and tighter.

The first sob tore through the fragile silence in the room, feeling almost like an echo. The hedgehog in his lap almost fell out, and even Annabeth seemed a little taken by surprise. He held his breath again, almost ashamed of the sound.

She was quick to rub circles in his back and tell him that things were going to be alright, that they weren’t right now but they _were going to be_ for sure. A quieter one followed, and then another, and then another.

It was harder for her than she thought it was going to be. Annabeth had been prepared to console him, but she hadn’t known how difficult it would be to try to help Percy with the little she could do – she felt like she was trying to treat a bleeding patient with only painkillers. And even _those_ were only temporary.

He didn’t let go of her for a long time, not when her phone rang, nor when someone knocked on the door, nor when Tyson crawled out of his lap to walk a lap around the room. She only pulled back when he’d gone quieter. Still keeping him in a half hug, she reached onto the tray that had gone lukewarm.

“Have another one, Percy. You said they were good.” He wiped his eyes with the heel of his free hand before taking it. “Or did you lie?” With a nasal chuckle, he popped the dessert into his mouth. “Good, because we’ve got to finish this tray before I get home, or Piper’ll kill me.”

He wiped his eyes again and Annabeth was now _sure_ that Jason was not the only thing Percy had just shed tears over. She looked around at everything she had brought, at all the things she had said, and wondered how exactly she had brought up a memory.

Percy seemed to recognize the curious expression on her face. After a second, “My mom used to work at IT”SUGAR,” He told her, popping another treat into his mouth. “She’d bring these home all the time, all the blue ones for me.”

The blonde instantly felt like a terrible person. “Percy, I am so sorry.”

He sniffed and smiled. “Are you kidding me? That was the best cry I’ve had in _years_.” She could see in his eyes that it wasn’t a joke. “And free food. And Tyson. And no screaming. You’re a dream come true.”

With a bigger smile she ran her hands methodically through his hair. “If you’re going to compliment me this much, maybe I should just come here all the time.”

“Maybe you should.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you flirting with me, Percy?”

He shrugged. “I never said I only went after guys.” Then, “But I don’t want to lose my balls to Piper, either. I guess cookies and cuddles and that’s it for us.”

She laughed, and then laughed even harder at the absurdity of the situation. He was cheering them _both_ up in such a state, and it was working. And he was such an absolute fool because he was such a good person and she wished he would just open his eyes and _see it._

Jason’s predicament made sense to her.

“Alright, I’m going to do your hair, and you can just keep eating the cinnamons.” She crawled behind him and started combing out all the tangles with her fingers. Tyson, somehow sensing a happy mood and desperately wanting to be a part of it, returned to Percy’s lap for a second treat.

“Thalia came by earlier today,” He told her, when she’d made it halfway through some ultra intricate design she was crafting on half his head. “We didn’t… it wasn’t a happy meeting.”

The blonde nodded in understanding. “I kind of figured, what with the neighbors giving me warning looks and the boot shaped mud prints at the door.” He snorted. “She didn’t mean any harm.”

“I know,”

“But at the same time, barreling straight through things doesn’t always work.” She conceded, earning a grateful laugh from her hair model. “It’s so strange – you’ve changed in appearance, but still look young. But young Grace looks like he’s aged five years.”

He was a little glad that she wasn’t going to just completely avoid the topic out of concern for his feelings. Like he’d said before, he wasn’t made of glass. “I thought the same thing. We’re like five inches apart now.”

“And I thought I saw a little stubble on his boy chin.”

“And all of a sudden, muscles.”

“And his _voice_.” They sat in silence for a second, just thinking about the blond and how much he had changed in so little time. “But his personality’s exactly the same.” She seemed to sound a little relieved, just like he felt. “Well, he’s almost out of that teen stage – nineteen’s just around the corner.”

“What?” Percy half turned to look at her.

She tugged him back into position before replying, “Yeah, his birthday’s on the first.” Grey eyes ran over his head, sending a wave of shudders up his spine. “Wait, you didn’t know?” He shrugged. “Wow, Percy. First class relationship you guys had there.”

“It was,” He agreed, seeming not to notice her sarcasm. He began to pet Tyson with one hand and popped cinnamon buns into his mouth with the other. “Although it would have been great if it lasted a little longer.”

“Not exactly something I would expect to hear from the person who broke it off.”  He didn’t reply. “An action whose reason I have yet to understand, or even come close to figuring out. _But_ it’s really none of my business.”

“You’re almost worse than Thalia.”

“Except I know how to go about these things in the right way. It’s different.”

He smiled before his thoughts turned as serious as his words. “I don’t think he would ever have been able to relax in a relationship like that.” He turned when she let go, running a hand over his side braid before continuing. “I mean, would you? It would just be endless worry about whether or not the other person was alright.”

He actually had a point, she hated to admit. “Well, though I’m glad to hear you’re thinking logically, I don’t like how this decision has affected you.”

“How has it affected me?”

“You spend multiple hours a day in solitude, for one.”

“I used to do that before, too.”

“That was an okay amount because you had work, among other things. Now you don’t do anything _but_ lay down in the stupid starfish position all day.” She swatted his hand away from her masterpiece. “I was going to recommend swimming but then I remembered that we’ve regressed back to the point of no bodies of water larger than a kitchen sink. Drawing, but you hate that. Reading, listening to music – but I don’t know what you like.”

“You could always, I don’t know, _ask_.”

She glared at him for thinking she hadn’t thought of such an alternative before. “But every time I came over, your door was locked and you yourself were dead to the world. There weren’t too many options when it came to trying to interact with you.”

He accepted the accusation with a slow nod relaxing against the back of the couch beside her. Tyson was still only halfway through his chew. “I’ve also been busy with legal issues. I have almost no more issues with body contact,” He defended.

“That is true, and I’m happy for you. But your attitude still screams ‘depression’ and ‘pain’, and it’s difficult for others – or me, at least – to look at.”

“Then don’t look.”

“Now you’re just being spiteful. Don’t shoot words back at me, Percy.” He bit his tongue. “Speak to me like the educated human being I _know_ you are.” There was no arguing with her unless one wanted to be verbally eviscerated.

“I’m not depressed.”

“That was pathetic.”

“I’m just tired.”

“All the time? Newsflash, Percy: that’s the main symptom of depression. You’re a walking puddle of ink and sorrow. You could, you know, try to work on that.” Her phone buzzed twice, but she ignored it.

“I don’t want to just be stuck with one form of social disability after another, Annabeth. Let me think I’m fine for a little bit.”

“That’s the healing process, Percy. You don’t just work it off after one victory.”

“That _sucks._ ”

“I know, it does, but so do a lot of other things. And sucky things only last so long. You would know, of all people – after eight years of living with the worst kind of being there is, you’re free.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT goodbye, Percy Jackson series.


	27. Cold Showers

**XXVII**

**Cold Showers**

Warning: strong language.

 

Jason hated his horribly soft self sometimes.

Rehearsal ended with a cast dinner in a hotel restaurant, and the group dispersed at around nine. Jason had stepped outside just minutes before the first of probably many May showers, prepared with a black umbrella in hand.

Except instead of reminding him of storms and clouds and lightning and traffic like rain _used_ to, now it just brought up memories of a night from almost half a year ago. He worked, _struggled_ to think of other things, but the sounds of pitter pattering on the concrete were much too vivid. The blond stopped under the shelter of an apartment complex entrance for a break.

He hated how goddamn sentimental he was.

After coming to terms with the fact that he probably wasn’t going to get over himself, he continued until he stopped under the shelter of the only sheltered bench for the next three avenues, where one unlucky patron sat in waiting for the end of the rain.

Jason turned to offer the person greetings – a habit he had yet to abandon upon moving here – and froze. _Just my fucking luck._

The figure pressing himself far, far back into the plastic half box glanced at him once before jerking his head to stare at him right in the eyes.

“Hey,” Jason managed through the cacophonous downpour mixed with street noise.

The green eyed boy, still somehow dry, gave Jason a small nod. He had gone completely white, his jaw clenched and his arms crossed tightly over his chest, letting him fold into himself. It took the blond a second (but only one) to process everything.

“It doesn’t look like it’ll let up any time soon,” He tried, and was rewarded with a blank stare. “Are you waiting for someone to pick you up?” Shake of the head. “Taxi?” No. “Are you waiting for the rain to stop?” A hesitant pause. _Oh._ He pushed open his umbrella again, thankful he hadn’t opted for the kiddy striped pattern, and offered, “Do you want me to walk you home?”

Percy bit his lip, glancing at the sky. His mouth formed a silent ‘no’.

“We’re only a couple of streets away. We can share the umbrella.”

After a moment of calculated staring at the portable rain shelter, Percy conceded. He stepped around the bench and to Jason’s side, and Jason felt his stomach d a flip. He hadn’t been this close to Percy in only a week and it hurt _this much_.

“Um, okay,” He held it above their heads and if they squished together just right, they’d be able to make it to Percy’s new place relatively dry. “Let’s go.” It took them three steps to match pace and after Jason (taking the street side of the sidewalk) was splashed with water, Percy pressed himself closer to the blond without any explanation.

Jason bit his lip and, after convincing himself, hesitantly put an arm around Percy’s shoulders. The shorter boy exhaled before bringing an arm around the blond’s waist, keeping them both underneath the protection of the umbrella. Aforementioned blond barely stopped himself from shuddering and almost ‘ugh’ed at his extreme sensitivity.

He glanced down at his companion as they crossed a puddle street. So, what, Percy was afraid of rain again? How had he even made it alive through May? He winced because he was pretty sure he could answer that question himself. “It’s a good thing you live so close from where you stopped,” Jason spoke when they’d made it to the hotel. “I’ll just, ah, get going then.”

“Why don’t you,” Jason whirled around almost too quickly. Percy jumped at the speed. “Uh, come inside?”

“Are you alright with that?”

Percy rolled his eyes, some of his older colors leaking through the layers of awkward. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t, Jason.” He turned, assuming the blushing blond would follow him when he was ready.

The blue eyed actor hurriedly shook out his umbrella and closed it before jogging to catch up with Percy at the top of a flight of stairs. He noticed how the green eyed boy didn’t seem nervous in the least, calmly recovering from the rain and pulling out his keys, not glancing at Jason as he opened the door…

“Hey,” Percy waved a hand in front of his face, pulling him out of his daydreams. “You coming?”

“Yes, yeah,” He pulled off his shoes and stepped into the clean, spacious apartment that he’d spent the night in a few days ago. (He stopped himself from looking to the left, where Percy’s oh so conveniently placed counter stood.) “It’s huge.”

“You said that the last time you came,” Percy tossed his jacket, wallet, keys – anything but the clothes on his back – onto the kitchen counter and went around to the other side. “Well, you just gonna stand there, or do you want to eat something?”

“Oh,” He propped the umbrella to the side. Even though he’d just come from dinner, “Uh, um, sure,” Coat, jacket, other jacket, wallet. Everything joined Percy’s pile and he reluctantly sat at the villainous counter. Percy busied himself with cutting something the blond couldn’t see. “So, um. Hi,” He started.

“Hey.”

“You look good.” Which wasn’t really a lie. Sure, a few dark circles, but besides that Percy had grown.

“Thanks. You look better.”

“…”

“So what were you doing downtown, anyway?” He pulled a pan out of the oven and put it over a fire.

Finally, a question that he could fill the silence with. “Our studio’s down there, so I usually walk by right around then. We had a dinner.” Percy hummed in acknowledgement. “What about you? I’d expect you to be at your job at this hour.”

“I’m not working right now,” Percy punctuated the end of the sentence by dumping a mass of diced somethings into the oiled fryer, filling the apartment with the sounds of crackling. Jason ‘oh’ed in the noise. “I have a lot of other things taking up my time right now.”

“Thalia told me you were getting pretty busy.”

“Did she?” The chef leaned one arm on the counter and looked Jason right in the eyes. The blond subconsciously sat up a little straighter. “What else did she say?”

“She didn’t tell me much, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m still out of the loop in this whole thing.”

“Maybe that’s better for you.”

“And maybe it’s not.” Except Jason really didn’t want to get into an argument with the boy right now. “So what have you been doing lately? In your free time or. Something.”

Percy thankfully took the bait. “I spend most of my time ducking out of the rain, as you probably already know.” The blond smiled. “Besides that, cooking. Cleaning. Avoiding my bedroom,”

“Why the bedroom?”

“Old boxes and stuff,” He began to give the mixture (that was perfuming the whole apartment with natural spicy aroma) slow stirs. “Stuff I haven’t really seen in a couple of years.”

“You’re being really open about all this.”

Shrug. “You’re asking.”

“And you’re just going to answer? And don’t shrug.”

The boy sucked in his cheeks instead. “If you’re the only one who _doesn’t_ know, I don’t see the harm in telling you the smaller things. But I’m sure you’ve already had doubts about them before. So, ask away.”

The taller boy paused before leaning over the counter. “So then, is that,” He pointed at the bulge beneath Percy’s pant covered leg, “what I think it is?”

“Yes.”

“So how long do you need to have it on?”

“Only until mid August. And that’s when I can move, too.”

It was the first Jason had heard about that. “You’re leaving Manhattan?”

“Hopefully the East Coast, if I’m lucky,” The fire burned out and Percy lay a mat on the counter between him and the blond. The pan and two forks soon followed. “I don’t want to live in this city anymore.”

Jason watched the dark haired boy raise a fried cucumber to his mouth and chew absentmindedly, his eyes and mind somewhere else. Always somewhere else. Percy was leaning over the pan and was so close the blond could just shift a little closer and, “Oh.”

The cook met his eyes, suddenly aware of how close they were. “Yeah.” He followed Percy’s eyes as they ran over his own face, taking in the closeness of his features. Blue eyes, dark blue eyes. The shorter boy seemed to really like his eyes, and he was so glad he was born with them. Percy bit his bottom lip and Jason desperately wanted to follow suit. “You should eat.”

He blinked. “Oh, yeah. Right.” His vocabulary was just _stunning_ tonight. He took in a tomato (mentally slapping himself for thinking dirty thoughts at the sight of a vegetable – fruit) and moaned at the explosive flavor on his tongue. Jason opened his eyes to tell Percy and found him covering his mouth with his fist. “Are you okay?”

Bright emeraldine eyes blinked. “Yeah, I’m just. One second.” He turned his back to Jason and leaned against the counter, his hand still on his face. The blond waited confusedly and patiently, unsure of what was going on. Unable to restrain himself, he looked over Percy’s lean muscled back (wow) and stopped at his bright red neck and ears.

“Perce?” When the boy didn’t reply he stood and came around the counter. “Percy?”

Aforementioned resident jumped at the closeness of the higher voice. “Whoa, Jason,” He backed up into the counter. After a second, he half turned around to put his back between them again.

“What’s up with you?”

“Nothing’s up with me,” He shot back defensively.

“You’re acting weird.”

“I’m always acting weird.” This was true. “Sit down and eat.” His face looked like it was on _fire_ , it was so red.

“Did you eat something spicy?”

“Uh, maybe. Yeah.”

When it became clear he wasn’t going to get a straight answer, Jason shook his head and sat back down. “Your face is really red,” He commented, watching the boy squirm in discomfort.

“I know, I can feel it.” The grey streak’s hand moved down below the counter top. Another squirm.

“O _kay_ ,” Jason shrugged and popped another tomato in his mouth, humming another food noise. Percy’s complexion bloomed with blood rush and it suddenly dawned on the blond what Percy’s ‘problem’ was. _“Oh.”_ He put down his fork. “Do you need to, uh,”

Now it was Percy’s turn to look confused. “What?”

“Go and. Um.”

“Use your words, Jason.”

Blue eyes rolled and he threw all awkward decency out of the window. “Do you need to go take a cold shower, _Jackson_?” Percy stiffened as all the blood in his body seemed to rush up to his cheeks. Jason sighed. “It’s your house, man. Go at it.” He waved his fork in the air and continued to eat as if he hadn’t just had one of the most vulgar conversations in his life. (He was a saint, he knew.)

The shorter boy muttered an ‘excuse me’ before marching to the bathroom. The exhaust turned on, and then the running water, and then Jason allowed his face to burn. _OH my god._ He covered his face with his hands even though there was no one to hide it from. _Oh my god, I am insane._

Although he couldn’t help but wonder how Percy had even gotten into that state, them eating one second and his little friend making a surprise appearance the next. But it wasn’t in him to question the human male anatomy, _especially_ not someone’s his own reacted to, and so he worked to shut out all relevant thoughts from his mind.

He quieted down after another bite and leaned back in his chair, wondering when Percy would be done. How long did these things usually take? He wasn’t really sure, for him it all went by in a blur — a barely audible sound from the bathroom cut off his train of thought _completely._

“Wow,” had become his favorite word ever since he’d met Percy, and the guy had it _all._ And that voice would be the death of him. _I am such, such,_ such _a pervert. I am going to go to hell._ He was still reciting in his mind when Percy came back, looking calmer than he had been a couple(?) of minutes ago.

“What’s up with you?”

Jason’s head snapped up. “Uh,” His eyes roamed everywhere but at Percy, trying to look anywhere but at Percy’s crotch. “The food was really good.”

The green eyed boy blinked. “Oh. Thanks,” He smiled, leaning over Jason’s lap to pop a pepper into his own mouth, and Jason felt like he would probably have to go to the bathroom soon, too. How the shorter boy could suddenly be so calm was beyond him.

He stared stared stared at Percy’s mouth until the boy swallowed, and then he watched him lick his lips.

Why was he so completely _agh_ today? Was it because of the food (although he was pretty sure there were no aphrodisiacs in tomatoes)? Was it because of Spring (the season of love – was physical desire in the air as well)? _Was_ _there no reprieve?_

Because even though he could act like nothing had happened, this was still the guy who had rejected him. Twice. (A hundred times, if they counted every phone call.) And it hurt a little to just _be_ this close to him, to sit in his apartment and talk about everything but the important things.

The thought of emotional pain brought his head out of the gutter _real_ quick. “I think I’m just. Gonna head home today.” Percy looked concerned, maybe even a little _hurt_ , but Jason was already standing up and getting all his things together. This room was closing in on him too quick. “Thanks for the food, Percy.”

He was halfway through putting on his overcoat when Percy gripped his elbow. “Wait, Jason, was it – because of,” He glanced at the bathroom door.

“No,” Jason shook his head. “I just don’t… think I should stay here too long.”

Percy’s shoulders sagged.

_You’re the one who rejected me, Perce._

“Okay.”

_I’m the one who should be looking like that, you asshole._

“Tell Thals I said hey,” He let his arm drop and Jason pulled on the rest of his things. “Reyna too, if she’s there still.”

Jason bit the inside of his cheek, watching Percy watch him. Eye contact hurt, standing this close to him hurt, the dim light in this apartment hurt. And gods, he was thirsty. “I will,” He ran a hand through his short hair and picked up the still wet umbrella.

“You know,” Percy crossed his arms and broke the silence. “You never did anything wrong.” _If you ever thought that you did._ Because Percy knew Jason had. “So don’t beat yourself up about _anything_.” _It was all good._

The blond didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, “can I stay?”


	28. Eleven Times Zero Is Zero

**XXVIII**

**Eleven Times Zero Is Zero**

Warning: strong language.

 

Percy slept like a fucking _koala_.

 

_“Can I sleep with you?”_

_Percy turned and blinked at Jason with raised eyebrows. After a second, he opened his mouth in amused surprise, “Wow, Jason, I never thought you could be so bold.”_

_Flush flush flush. “No, I – you know, I meant we just. We just sleep, like, like actual_ sleeping _,” He trailed off when the resident started to crack up._

_“Sure. Let’s do it.”_

_It was Jason’s turn to be surprised. “Wait, do it? Like, like actually_ do _—”_

_“Make up your mind, Grace.”_

_“Right. Sleep. Got it.”_

And Jason found that he didn’t hate it at all. Percy had one arm and one leg draped over the blond, his face buried deep in Jason’s neck. Blue eyes couldn’t see too well in the dark, but he could feel every rise of Percy’s chest, every breath against his collar. He was much too nervous to fall asleep.

Less than ten minutes after Jason had set a boundary line between them on the bed the darker haired boy had rolled into his space and _stayed_ there. And by the looks of it, he wasn’t moving any time soon. But, like Jason had found, he didn’t hate it.

Maybe he was just a little pathetic for staying with the guy who’d dumped him for the night, but. He wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity for the _world_ , no matter what anyone said. And even though nothing happened, he probably wasn’t going to regret it.

Percy hummed and snuggled a little closer, warming Jason better than the blanket that had been tossed off the bed would have.

Yup. He definitely was _not_ going to regret it.

He returned the accidental embrace to the best of his abilities, turning so that he faced the boy completely and wrapping his half free arm around his waist to pull them closer together. He buried his nose in Percy’s long hair, finding that it smelled like the beach though he wasn’t even sure if Percy had ever been to one.

Percy sighed comfortably and Jason’s heart did a little thing. This was ten thousand times better than spooning and he had to let the _world_ know that this. Was. Amazing. (And all Percy was doing was _sleeping_.)

His phone buzzing on the floor beside the bed broke him out of his happiness. There was literally only _one person_ who would dare text someone at – he checked his screen – four twenty six in the morning. With one hand, he angrily typed, _what, sis?_

_WHERE ARE YOU_

Reluctantly, he typed out the address of the location but not the resident’s name. He realized she was probably waking up her girlfriend in the middle of the night to ask exactly _who’s_ address that was. After a moment his phone buzzed again.

_YOU’RE AT PERCY’S? IS EVERYTHING OKAY?_

It wasn’t like Percy was going to skin him alive for just showing up. He politely told her so while informing her of the fact that everything she typed was in capital letters.

_You’re such a little bitch sometimes._

He smiled.

_What are the two of you doing?_

‘Percy’s sleeping and I’m just laying here, kind of awake.’

_Are you sleeping together?_

Before he could reply,

_DID YOU TWO SLEEP TOGETHER_

‘No.’

_Oh_

That was one setback of text messages. One could never tell what emotion the other was trying to convey. Was that an ‘oh’ of relief? Of surprise? Of wishing that it happened but then a little deflated that it hadn’t? (He guessed it was the third one – his sister was an open pervert.)

_Okay_

He asked her why she was up at such an hour.

_Well, Reyna wanted to have a little fun and_

And that was all he read of the message before he dropped his phone back on the carpet. When he hadn’t replied it buzzed once, twice, three times, but he absolutely refused to go over and check it. Served her right for divulging such information to her _little brother._

His bedmate tightened his hold around Jason, regaining his attention as he hummed right on Jason’s skin. He resisted the urge to laugh at the ticklish sensation, too worried he might wake the boy up and end the entire spell.

He couldn’t get a good look at Percy’s face but from what he could see, the boy was smiling. He smiled in his sleep for hours and hours and _hours_ , and Jason wished he would do it while awake, too.

If this had been one of Piper’s romantic novels (that he just _happened_ to _glance_ at), Percy would be spilling some epic secrets in his sleep, something for the bigger blond to go on. But Percy only smiled, snuggled, and gave the occasional hum.

He was actually glad the boy was having such an enjoyable sleep, though. The bags under his eyes had worried him upon first sight, and it was even _more_ worrying when Percy didn’t fall asleep until around midnight. But now he was dead to the world and it was relieving and adorable.

His hand (thank the gods he had long fingers) came up to brush some unbraided bangs out of Percy’s hair, giving him a full view of the tattoo that he had found supremely _awesome_ the day Percy had picked him up from the audition without cover spray.

He ran a finger lightly down the inked galaxy, feeling what didn’t feel like smooth skin. When he ran over it again, the ridges he’d felt at the beginning identified themselves as three long scratch marks, like someone had run jagged nails down the side of his face. He cringed at the image.

Percy shifted under his touch for the first time, digging his face deeper into Jason’s neck and causing bangs to drop back into his face. Jason brushed them away but didn’t let his fingers linger for too long this time. His hand instead followed the tattoo trail down his neck, collar, shoulder, and then his muscle tank cut off the rest of open skin. But every ink had a ridge or cut or some sort of blemish underneath.

Jason had a strange feeling that he suddenly knew why Percy had gotten tattooed in the first place, but didn’t know how he’d bring it up with the boy in the morning.

_Hey! Great nap. So, do you get tattoos to cover your scars?_

No. Not happening. In an attempt to clear his thoughts he kissed Percy’s head, tightening his hold around the thankfully smaller boy. It worked.

He didn’t think anyone would ever understand just how much he loved being taller than Percy. It gave him an advantage in every way – he could lean down to pick the boy up, he could tilt the shorter boy’s chin up, and the best part was that it seemed to _annoy_ Percy _._ That just made it perfect for him.

 “You’re eleven and a half times cuter than you think you are,” He whispered.

“Eleven times zero is zero,” Percy whispered back, and Jason almost _screamed._ Percy shook with laughter but didn’t roll away from the larger boy. He didn’t move at all, actually – when he spoke, his words tickled just below Jason’s ear.

“You were _awake?_ ” Percy was still laughing. Jason was glad it was too dark to see his furious embarrassment. “For how long?”

“Only for a sec,” Percy yawned, snuggling closer. “You should go to sleep.”

“I am going to,” He replied, but only a minute later Percy’s breathing evened out into slow and regular beats. He sighed, still a little freaked out that Percy had heard him, had woken up, and had _not moved away from him_. That Percy was this comfortable. “You really are adorable.”

When the smaller boy didn’t reply, Jason relaxed and ran his fingers through soft black hair.

“ ‘Eleven times eleven is zero’ – _pfft._ Talk about low self esteem. Or guy pride.” Absentmindedly he started to hum a song, cursing his ADD for acting up at times where he desperately needed to relax. He had rehearsal in _five hours_ for crying out loud.

When he finished humming half the soundtrack of _Hairspray_ , he sighed into Percy’s head. The skies were turning more blue than black, meaning if he fell asleep right now he would wake up and shoot something. Just _great._ He pressed his mouth into Percy’s hair. “Help me sleep.”

The boy hummed back, not really asleep but not really awake, either. He shifted his hand so that it rested comfortably on the small of Jason’s back, making it easier for him to touch so many places all at the same time. He mumbled something that vaguely sounded like ‘sleep’ before completely drooping. “You’re a flower, Percy.”

An affirmative hum.

There were birds chirping when his eyes finally shut.

 

**_P_ **

 

His body slept in strange ways, he had realized too quickly. After exactly one four hour cycle, Jason woke up feeling refreshed but a little disoriented. Where was he? Why was it so hot? Why did it feel like something was pinned to his chest.

All the answers had something to do with a Percy, a Perseus Jackson. His brain soon shoved all the puzzle pieces into place and Jason’s panicking heart calmed itself just a little bit.

The former bartender was still in koala formation, his body wrapped tight around Jason’s in a comfortable full body hug. His head had fallen back, however, leaving him sleeping in some awkward position with his bangs hanging out in space.

Unable to resist, Jason reached back to grab his phone and (as best he could) snapped a picture. Thank goodness he had such a clear camera. The phone snapped with a click sound, too close to Percy’s ear to go unnoticed.

The smaller boy gave a small groan before moving his head into a more comfortable position, in Percy’s neck. (And that wasn’t one of those _normal_ zones for the blond, either – he could feel the sensitivity rising with every touch.)

He switched the camera so that it faced him and lifted it into the air, capturing a Percy tucked beneath his chin. His teeth flashed in a grin to himself, he was so happy with the picture. Today was going to be a good day and he knew it. He looked at the picture again and chuckled to himself.

“Mmchu laughin’ at?” Percy mumbled, not budging an inch.

Jason quickly shut off the phone, hiding the picture from the sleepy resident. “Just your face. You look like you’re enjoying the sleep.”

He nodded, rubbing his nose against Jason’s neck and sending a shudder racing up his spine. “Haven’t slept this much in years.” He paused and cracked one eye open to look at the blond, who found that he really loved the contrast of bright green to the darker tan of Percy’s skin. “Are you uncomfortable?”

Jason frowned. “Uh, not really. Why?”

Percy sighed onto his collar. “Your morning problem’s digging into my thigh.”

The blue eyed boy blushed _so hard_ , he found himself getting dizzy with the speed of blood rush.

“Your neck got hot all of a sudden.”

“Stop _narrating_ everything,” He growled and tried to slide out of bed, but Percy came right with him. “Hold on, I’ve gotta fix this ‘morning problem’.” Percy didn’t reply. “Are you just going to come with me?” The boy hummed. Jason rolled his eyes and stood, fully expecting Percy to fall back onto the mattress.

He noted that he should probably never underestimate Percy’s core body strength again. The boy didn’t seem to even realize they’d changed orientation. His legs and arms remained wrapped around the buff blond and he gave a buzzing sound similar to a snore.

“Dude.”

No reply.

“Percy,”

“Hm.”

“Let go.”

“Mm.”

“Seriously. I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Mm-mm,”

“No, _not_ later. I’ll be back in a sec.”

“Hmmmmm,”

“Come on man, you were the one who pointed it out in the first place,”

“Mm,” And then a sigh, a groan, and Percy let go and flopped back onto the mattress. “Be quick. It’s like the middle of the night.”

“It’s eight in the morning,” He shot back, loosening the waistband of his borrowed from Percy pajamas and shutting the bathroom door behind him. He splashed his still burning face with cold water and ran a wet hand through his hair, waking him up a little bit.

Jason glanced down at the bathroom sink and found Percy’s blue toothbrush sitting in his blue holder, right alongside the green one Jason had used when he’d lived at Percy’s for two weeks. He blinked. Percy hadn’t thrown it away in all that time? Either he was really lazy, stupid, sentimental, or all of the above plus an extra helping of stupid. (But Jason already knew that.) Relieved he wasn’t going to have to camper-ize his tooth brushing experience, he started with the task.

When the stage actor came out of the bathroom feeling super awake and ready to take on the world with his bare hands, he found Percy laying on his back and staring up at the screen of his own cell phone. “What are “What are you looking at?” He hopped onto the mattress right as Percy shut off the phone.

“Nothing.”

“Show me.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“…no.”

_“Please?”_

“Jason, no.”

He wrestled it out of the sleepy boy’s hands and found, sadly, that there was a code he was going to have to get through. “What’s your code?”

“Do you really think I’ll just tell you?”

“Is it your apartment number or something?”

Percy snatched the phone right out of the blond’s hands, essentially answering his question.

“Give it here,” He dragged the fleeing boy back onto the bed, trying to reach the phone. Percy curled in on himself, clutching the cell to his chest. “If that’s how you wanna do it,” the blond straddled the smaller boy’s waist, trying to pull his arms off his chest. “Show. Me!”

“No.”

“Were you watching porn or something?”

“Will saying ‘yes’ get you to let it go?”

“No.”

“Then no.” Percy lay his phone clutching hand under his back and used his other one to push Jason away by his chest.

“Are you ticklish?” Percy froze, suddenly, in pure terror. Jason cackled maniacally before his hands invaded the smaller boy’s torso, each touch eliciting a laugh out of the boy.

 _“Stop_ ,” Percy managed through the giggles, but Jason was on a roll. “Stop stop sto… p, stop stop.”

 _“Got it!”_ The stage actor scooped the small screen from Percy’s spazzing fingers and sat up on his knees, his lower body still holding Percy firm against the mattress. The prisoner’s own hands came up to try to tickle Jason. “Sorry, Perce – I’m not ticklish.”

With a dramatic flourish, Jason typed in the code and was let into the depths of Percy’s technological life. The last opened app was his photos, so Jason went straight there.

He almost couldn’t even figure out what he was looking at until he recognized the photo subject’s jacket to be the same one currently hanging in Percy’s coat closet. When he looked down at the resident for an explanation, he was burning a hole in the ceiling, refusing to look at Jason.

Jason looked from Percy to phone, to Percy to phone to Percy. His lips came up in an enormous grin and he stared at the screen for a few more seconds, not even noticing the dark haired boy’s gaze focus on the picture admirer.

“I can’t believe you still have this,” Jason said out loud, still grinning like a fool. His smile was contagious; Percy could feel it.


	29. You Can Only Tread Water For So Long

**XXIX**

**You Can Only Tread Water For So Long**

Warning: strong language, mentions of strangulation, mentions of arson. 

 

“My mom told me I’ve been swimming since I was three and a half years old,” Percy was saying, pulling Jason out of his thoughts. He sat across the boy on the ground, passing him half a dragon fruit and a spoon. After taking a mouthful, he continued. “Apparently I fell in the pool once but started treading water by the edge. My mom pulled me out and told me that I could ‘only tread water for so long’.

“And then I spent the next thirteen years of my life doing nothing but swimming, all the time. Swim, swim, swim, because water is like the world’s best stage to me.” That was an analogy that Jason could understand. “I think it was the second thing I ever loved, the first being my mom.”

Percy stopped talking for a second, his eyes spacing out at Jason’s crossed legs with a trace of a half smile on his lips. “Well, so. On the morning I set the state record for the medley relay, July 3rd, it was a super hot day and everyone got let out early. My mom and I had a little party, cake, candy, all that. Gabe wanted a bath, so it was my chore to go fill it for him while mom went upstairs to do the laundry.”

He stopped talking. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.

“Um, so. I was sitting and then, Gabe came in,” he rubbed his mouth and Jason wanted to tell him that he didn’t _have_ to say anything, but didn’t. Because saying that might have shut Percy up forever. “And he kicked me in. And held me under the water. And for the first time in my life, I felt what it was like to drown.”

Everything hit Jason in bursts. He couldn’t even process what he was hearing because it couldn’t have been _real._ But proof was sitting in front of him, was spilling all his secrets to him.

“Mum pulled me out and performed CPR, and I lived. Barely.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The next day I got home just in time for news to break and interrupt my stepdad’s poker channel. I guess the anchors were new because they seemed really flustered when reporting the story – young unidentified woman jumps off main bridge, body still unrecovered. He was upset he missed the best part of the game. I was a little sad, but. I mean. I’ve seen the same story reported a few times already.”

He took a deep breath and exhaled. Jason gave him nothing but his full attention.

“Mom didn’t come home that night, but they found the body at around two in the morning. I was the first contact on the list – her almost sixteen year old son, not her piece of shit husband.” He clenched his jaw. “And that was it. I went down to the station alone, waited alone, identified the body alone, filled out the paperwork and waited and waited and waited. Alone.

“Later, I remembered that I’d missed the meet that day that would determine whether or not I could go to nationals for swimming,” He shrugged. “But. Whatever. Gabe never showed up at the station, and when I got home he’d dumped all of our stuff on the front yard. He didn’t want to ‘take care of her shitty brat anymore’,” It was more than a little disturbing how little emotion Percy put into every statement.

“I went into the house and found him passed out on the couch, covered in alcohol. Maybe he was grieving or whatever – I didn’t know, I didn’t care.” He paused. “I started smoking when I was fourteen, by the way. So I had my lighter on me.”

Jason gasped quietly despite himself. Percy smiled through a pained shrug.

“And it just _destroyed_ the whole house. And I watched it. When the ceiling started coming down, I turned to leave. It was around then that he woke up, and threw his scotch bottle at my back.” That explained the wings. “And then I just. Left. Turned myself in, told them there was a fire, let them do whatever. Pled guilty to murder.”

Jason knew the rest of the story from there. When he’d walked into Percy’s apartment with a smile and had found a group of lawyers sitting across from the boy, he’d had a sinking feeling in his stomach. And Percy had asked him to sit there with him. To listen. To know and understand and _see_ the situation.

Twenty minutes since they’d vacated the premises and he still couldn’t wrap his head around the whole fucked up situation. He sat for a minute, processing Percy’s story, before he stood and went to the bathroom and kneeled by the toilet and vomited out everything he’d just eaten.

The resident was right behind him, rubbing soothing spirals on his back and telling him that it was okay, everything was all good. “You think you’re gonna be okay?” Percy gave him a concerned look when he was finished and Jason almost laughed at the irony.

After washing out his mouth, “Are _you_ going to be alright?”

Percy shrugged. “I’ve spent almost three years _destroying_ myself over this whole thing.” Everyone around him could attest to that. “And I think – I think that things shouldn’t have to end for me at just nineteen years old.”

Jason waited when it became clear he wasn’t finished.

“I haven’t told anyone this. In my entire life. Not the story how _I_ saw it. And I wanted to tell you, even though you’re going to hear it a lot now, personally, because it’s. I’m,” He couldn’t find the words and made a frustrated noise. “I can’t put into words how much I _trust_ you. Right now, I’m just. I don’t care if you tell the whole world what I’ve said. I want you to know and I want you to know _better_ than _anyone else._ Because it was only me there.”

He swallowed. “You can only tread water for so long.” They stared at each other for long moments, before Percy laughed and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “Alright, it’s almost June – time to go get some ice cream otherwise I’m going to start crying.”

Jason snorted. “Why not both?”

Percy bit his quivering lip, hands still covering his eyes.

“Cry first, eat ice cream later?”

The shorter boy drew in a shaky breath. “S-sounds good,” His voice broke.

 

**_P_ **

 

“So where are we going, exactly?” Percy huddled beneath Jason’s umbrella, his own hanging from one arm at his side. Jason’s cloud print scarf was wrapped around their necks, providing them with some source of warmth as they jogged through crowded streets in the rain.

“Haven’t you wondered at _all_ today why I got out of rehearsal after only three hours?”

“I dunno, it crossed my mind when you walked in during a legal, recorded, on the stand witness meeting.” He squeezed the blond’s waist.

Jason rolled his bright blue eyes. “Well, see, the musical’s in town.”

“I heard.”

“And they’re looking for extras.”

“And they’re holding auditions today?” Percy looked up at him. “You wanna watch, or something?” And then it hit him _right_ in the face and he stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, the scarf yanking Jason backwards into the smaller boy. “You can’t be fucking serious.”

“Hurry up! They’re going to start soon.”

“Jason, _no._ You complete theater crackpot, use your _brain_.”

“I _am,_ Perce, and it’s telling me that you need to experience stage high at least once in your life. Everyone does.”

“You’re insane.” He turned on his heel and then karma hit, the scarf yanking _him_ back into the taller boy. “This is not happening.”

“I will carry you to the audition hall if I have to.”

“No you won’t.” Immediately he realized it was the wrong thing to say to a non-resident of New York. In a single motion Jason had swept Percy off his feet and carried him in his arms bridal style, and then started to walk them to the casting director’s office _just like that._ It was up to Percy to hold the umbrella up so that rain didn’t soak their upper bodies. “Jason motherfucking Grace, put me _down._ ”

“Better wash that dirty mouth out before we get there.” He gave Percy a look. "I'll consider it your apology for one of the most cliché awkward breakups ever."

The green eyed boy thought for a moment. “I don’t even have things with me – forms or packets or anything.”

“I turned them in for you yesterday. Emailed them in after you let me sleep over.”

Percy could have strangled the idiot. “I can’t sing or dance.”

“They won’t be checking for singing and Percy, you were _born_ to dance.”

“I was _born_ to eat ice cream. Which is what we’re _supposed_ to be doing right now.”

“Here we are,” Jason sang loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. They must have been other stage actors because they didn’t seem to find it strange. But seeing one boy carry another into a respected establishment – _that_ got a lot of people’s attention. They stepped into shelter and then Jason let Percy down. “Perseus Jackson,” He told the secretary, who pointed them down one of the halls with an amused smile.

“Here’s his number,” She handed him a tag. “And that’s a beautiful scarf.” Jason gave her a charming smile before pinning the number to his companion’s chest.

“I’m going to murder something.”

“Please don’t.” Jason grasped Percy’s hand and all but dragged him down the hallway. “You’ll do great. So stand tall, and when your number comes then step forwards and slate your name. They’re going to give you twenty minutes to learn a dance—”

_“Jason.”_

_“Percy_ ,” The blond cupped Percy’s face. “You will be _amazing_ , I promise you. Please, please just _try._ ”

“I’m not an actor. I’m not like you.”

“You are a _brilliant_ actor. You’ve held it together for this long.” He smiled. Percy was _not_ going to cry at a freaking _casting director’s office._ “Get in there. And _enjoy_ yourself.” He smacked a sloppy kiss on Percy’s lips and pushed him with the cloud scarf through the double doors, giving him an encouraging ‘whoop!’ before they closed.

Percy stood there for more than a minute, glaring at the doors and completely unsure of what to do. Someone cleared their throat behind him and he hesitantly turned around.

“Mr. Perseus Jackson?” The older man spoke, recognizing the number pinned to Percy’s chest.

“Speaking,” Percy mumbled, earning a warm smile from the director.

“The rest of the auditioning group is in the back room,” He pointed to a door backstage. “Break a leg, Mr. Jackson.”

 

**_P_ **

 

Jason sat in the lobby, giggling to himself like a middle schooler. He just couldn’t get Percy’s shocked face out of his head, and then he’d gotten to carry him – _carry him_ – to the office. Only one block, but still.

The secretary sitting at the desk in front of him smiled. “Is your friend auditioning?”

Jason nodded. “But he’s… _shy._ And has an extremely dirty mouth. So I don’t exactly know how things are going to go for him in there.”

“Is it his first time?”

“Yup.” They both laughed.

“Good luck to him. First auditions are always the best.”

He agreed before his phone began to ring in his pocket, echoing throughout the lobby. “Hello?”

_“Jason?”_

“Sis?”

_“Jason, where are you? Percy’s apartment is totally empty, and its. Weird.”_

“Percy’s in the middle of auditioning for a play.”

 _“…wait, what?”_ A scuffle on the other end, high pitched scream after high pitched scream and then suddenly, echoes. He was on speakerphone. _“Repeat that for the four of us all to hear at once. Say every word slowly.”_

“Percy. Is. In. the. Middle. Of. Auditioning. For. A. Musical.” Someone screamed, and since he didn’t recognize the voice it must have been Reyna.

Annabeth’s voice crackled over the chaos, _“How did you convince him to do an audition?”_

“I didn’t. I literally told him five minutes before we got to the director’s office.”

_“Take a video!”_

“I wish I could, but no one’s allowed in the hall except for the directors and producers.” Groans on all sides. “Why are you all looking for Percy today, anyway?”

 _“Oh, uh,”_ Annabeth became awkward all of a sudden _. “There’s, um. We just wanted to. Talk to Percy. We usually do, on Sunday mornings. He has meetings with some people, and,”_ She trailed off, hoping he’d make his own connections, and he did.

They still thought he wasn’t in the know. “Oh, um. I already know.”

There was a pause. “ _Oh_ ,” They chorused in perfect synchronization.

“Well, yeah. We went out to get ice cream and now we’re here. Do you guys want to come?”

 _“Sure!_ ” Piper took the phone, taking them off speaker. “ _Is he alright?”_ She whispered.

“Yes,” Jason whispered back, and then he was back on speaker. “We’re on 42nd. It’ll end in twenty.”

 _“Sounds cool,”_ Thalia came up _. “We’ll be there in ten. See you then, Jason.”_

They were actually there in five, all rushing into the lobby in one loud, rambunctious, drunk with laughter group. Even Reyna was uncharacteristically jittery, looking around at the office and grinning at everything in sight.

Thalia attacked him with a hug, leaping into his arms and hanging off his neck. He hugged her right back, used to the Grace way of greeting a sibling or a loved family member. “What did we miss?” She asked once she’d been let down. “And how do these things usually go?”

“Nothing, yet. And they usually learn a dance and then perform it ‘with personality’ to the directors. If you do good, you do a second dance, and then you leave. You get a call within twenty four hours if you’ve got the part.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I hop he gets it, because the competition for extras is worse than that of actual cast.”

“So he has no chance?”

Jason glared at his older but shorter sister. “Have a little faith, sis.”

“What if he freezes up or something? Gets stage fright?”

“Have you met Percy Jackson?” Annabeth cut off, grinning like a madman. “This is the most amazing thing to happen in the world of theater and we are _missing_ it.”

“The auditions are recorded,” The waitress cut into the conversation quietly. When all their eyes turned to her, she gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help but overhear.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jason muttered.

“But if you beg the director, he’ll probably be okay with giving you a clip of Mr. Jackson’s audition.”

Thalia made an excited noise and introduced herself to the older secretary. “Thalia Grace,” She held out a hand, already overly friendly. Jason face palmed. “And your name is?”

She smiled and returned the shake. “Hazel Levesque, at your service.” She nodded over at the one male in the lobby. “I know Jason through my husband, his agent.”

“And yet we have never met nor heard of you in our lives,” Reyna didn’t sugarcoat her words. “Thank you for your help, Mrs. Levesque.”

“It was my pleasure.”


	30. Nothing Really Sexual About It

**XXX**

**Nothing Really Sexual About It**

Warning: strong language.

 

“This entire day has gone _way_ too fast,” Percy threw the door shut behind him and collapsed on the floor.

Jason stepped over the boy and hung both their coats up in the closet with a smile. “But you did really good, or so I heard from the director.”

The shorter boy groaned. “Don’t even _talk_ to me, you fucking loser.”

The blond laughed and leaned down beside Percy to rub his back. “You have to admit you enjoyed it. You came out with the biggest smile on your face.” _A smile that disappeared upon having Thalia leap into your stomach, but eh._ “And you exchanged numbers with other auditionees, too – that means they thought you were worthy competition.”

Percy turned his head to look at him. “…really?”

“Yup. It’s a fact in the stage acting world.” The shorter boy turned his face back into the carpet, muffling whatever he was saying. Jason lay himself down beside the shorter boy and leaned right into his ear. “Percy?”

“Hmmf.”

“Will you go out with me?”

He turned his head so fast his hair whipped Jason’s nose. “What?”

“Will you go—”

“I heard what you _said_ , Jason, but. What?”

“I don’t understand what you don’t understand,” The taller boy almost pouted.

“I mean to say that this. Is kind of late. And unexpected.”

“I didn’t know another time to ask than right now.” He took a deep breath. “And I don’t mean like just going out on dates and stuff. I’ve got, like, a plan for how I’m going to do things. And every time you back out I will work my absolute hardest to drag you back in.”

“That doesn’t sound too appealing.”

“You know what I mean.”

Percy sucked in his cheeks. “Tell me a couple of things about this ‘plan’ you’ve got.”

“Well,” Jason grasped Percy’s hand with his own, “I am going to throw a freaking party when we kiss ten times.”

“How many times have we kissed so far?”

“Nine times.”

“You’ve been _counting_?”

Jason nodded shamelessly. “Although I just want to kiss you _all the time_ —”

“O _kay_ ,” Percy cut off with a laugh. “Save it for the bed, Jason.” He paused. _“Can_ you stay tonight?”

Jason felt his chest fill with something light. “Of course I can,” He grinned, brushing his lips against Percy’s wrist. He paused and looked down at the tattoo. “What’s this?” He traced the edges of the intricate butterfly on the tanned skin.

Percy glanced down at it an gave a small smile, before watching the blond run a thumb over the marred skin. Somehow the artist had managed to make it look like nothing was beneath it, but. “It’s the outline of cigarette butt,” He explained.

Jason’s breath caught in his throat. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s five years old, Jason. It feels like normal skin to me.” He sighed. “Alright, I think we’d better move this over to the bed, or I’m just going to fall asleep here.” Jason hopped right to his feet, but Percy remained in the same position. “Help me up.”

Obediently, the bigger of the two pulled the smaller one to his feet, then half carried him to the bedroom. Percy began stripping in the doorway, throwing off most of his clothes. Jason stared. “Are you changing into your pajamas?”

“I’m too tired to care right now,” He threw his shirt behind him at the blond and leapt onto the bed in nothing but pants, burying himself in the blankets that they had picked out together. “Hurry up and get in here, loser,” He called from the warmth.

Jason recovered in record time and hopped in after him, although he decided to wear sleeping clothes.

After they lay down for a couple minutes (or an hour – no one had a coherent concept of time), Percy broke the night silence. “Today _was_ a good day,” He agreed. From the other side of the bed, Jason hummed in acknowledgement, propping himself up on one elbow to look at his bedmate. “You think tomorrow will be good, too?”

Jason shrugged. “You might get a call from the director and have a party. You might not, and have a party anyway. Things will end in merrymaking either way, so I think so.” He smiled.

Percy gave a laugh. “Well,” He pointed in one corner of the room, where there was only one thing that was left. “I think I should probably unpack those boxes soon, then.” He paused. “I’ll be here for a while before you’re done with the musical, anyway.”

Jason didn’t get what he was saying at first. “Wait, you – you’re,” His smile widened, though Percy couldn’t see. “Of course. Do you want me to help you move things around?”

“That would be great,” He sounded relieved. Jason silently thanked the directors for having no rehearsal the next day, and then ruffled Percy’s hair. “You’d better actually sleep this time. We can’t have you passing out at the restaurant again.”

Percy groaned in mortification while Jason guffawed from his side of the bed.

 

**_P_ **

 

Percy sat in front of the first of many boxes, staring at it like it was his least favorite thing on the planet. Jason sat beside him, watching his every expression. “I’m sorry,” Percy apologized for his hesitation, earning only a reassuring pat on the back. After another two minutes, “I can’t do it.”

Jason’s expression softened. “That’s alr—”

“Can you?” Jason blinked. “Can you take them out for me?”

“Are – are you okay with that?” Percy nodded and eagerly switched places with Jason, sitting on the far side of the mattress while the blond took his place in front of the stack. “Okay, um. I’m opening the box now,” He pulled open the flaps, taking a short moment to look inside. The darker haired boy had long since turned away and was staring at the other wall.

Jason took a breath and pulled out what would have looked like a blue flight attendant’s uniform had there not been an enormous candy brand embroidered on the left breast pocket. He held it up to Percy, who looked at it and then quickly averted his gaze. “That’s my mom’s,” He said, and Jason set it on the ground and out of sight.

It seemed everything in the first box was Percy’s mother’s – the uniform, a coffee mug, a coffee machine, some pillows and a collection of play scripts. At the bottom was an almost crushed _Finding Nemo_ night light, one that six year old Percy had hastily Sharpie-d his name onto.

“You spelled your own name wrong.”

“It sounds the same way with a ‘u’,” The resident defended.

“You spelled your _own name wrong_ ,” Jason repeated, as if he couldn’t get enough of the ridiculousness of that statement. This is too good. I’m keeping this _Finding Nemo_ night light with ‘Purcy’ Jackson’s autograph on it.” He put it in his back pocket when Percy didn’t stop him. “What do you want to do with the plays?”

Percy chewed the inside of his cheek. “I’m giving them to Reyna,” He said after a moment. She’s into musicals, right? And that’s mostly what my mom has.” They set the stack aside for the half Italian. “Alright. Next box.”

The next one was considerably easier to go through. The second Jason opened it, he couldn’t help but gape. _“Holy shit_ ,” He said out loud, pulling out a tangle of ribbons and medals. “What are all of these even for?”

“Swimming,” The green eyed boy grinned, not even having to look back to know what the blond was talking about. “I told you – I set the state record at fifteen years old. I didn’t play around, Jason Grace – I was going to be a pro.”

“No kidding,” He pulled out ribbon after medal after certificate after trophy, except there was just _too much_. “What should I do with all of them?”

“I think I’ll just throw them out,” The owner didn’t take nearly as time to think about the items as he had for his mother’s old musical collection.

“You’re going to throw away all your achievements?”

“My achievements are still there, Jason – I’m just not carrying around extra weight I don’t need.” From then on, the trophy box became the recycle bin.

For the next box, Percy came and sat on the closer edge of the bed. Jason didn’t comment for fear of chasing the smaller boy away, and instead pulled open the next larger box. This was the box that explained Percy’s personality back in his heyday.

“There are, like, three hundred phone numbers on here,” Jason gaped, pulling out strips of movie tickets, napkins, textbook corners, and notebook pages with different kinds of scribbling on each one. “Are all of these from people going after you?”

Percy shrugged. “I was water-sexual in high school or something. And people always want to jump onto the popular kid’s bandwagon,” He shrugged. “What _I_ want to know is whether my comic book collection survived the house fire.”

Jason peeked in. “Apparently it did.” He laughed and pulled out a stack of comic books of varying sizes and thickness, from pages taped together to entire hardcover volumes. “I had no idea you were so into Batman,” He read.

“Not Batman, _Robin_ ,” He rolled his eyes as if Jason was the stupidest person he had ever met. “Who likes Batman anymore?”

“ A lot of people, actually,” The blond grinned, pulling out a pair of very small pajamas. “Do these Robin themed PJs belong to a certain someone I know?” He stretched them out to try to pinpoint exactly at what age Percy had worn them. “Ten years?”

“Twelve,” The boy corrected. “I used to be the smallest kid in my classes until I was fifteen.” They tossed them out to the side. “Well, this entire activity has left me feeling a little drained,” He said before Jason could pull out the next thing.

“You haven’t been _doing_ anything,” Jason stopped anyway. “What do you want to do instead?”

“Let’s go outside.”

They looked out an open window at the brilliant shining of sun over the city. “Alright. Time to take a shower, then.” Percy bit the inside of his cheek. “Do you want to?”

“It’ll be a little gross if I don’t, right?”

“A little.” He shrugged. “I mean, I won’t really care until you start to smell.”

Percy sniffed himself and whistled, then hopped off the bed. “Yeah, I think I’m going to need to shower.” After a moment of standing, “I hate how there’s always a bathtub. Maybe I just want to live the rest of my life taking showers – is that too much to ask?”

Jason knew he probably shouldn’t laugh, but he did anyway. “Are you going to be okay?”

“You ask that a lot, you know that?” The boy chewed his cheek in hesitation. Without answering the actual question, he went into the bathroom. A little worried, the taller boy followed the shorter and found him staring down at the tub.

“Okay, Perce, here’s how we’re going to do this,” He just hoped to gods that this wasn’t a bad idea. “Go get your phone.” A little bewildered, the resident left the bathroom to go search for the cell, unsure of where he last left it.

When he _did_ find it, he came back to find a full tub and a stripping Jason. “…what are you doing?”

The taller boy pulled off his pants, leaving him in nothing but underwear, and slipped into the tub. With a content sigh, he lowered himself until only his head was above water. “Your tub is really big.” Percy mouthed an ‘okay’. “Get in.” Dark eyebrows shot into dark hair. “There’s room enough for both of us.”

Percy took in the sight of his. _Guest._ Sitting in his tub in nothing but predictably blue briefs, and though his mind insisted ‘no’ his everything else screamed _‘hells_ yeah’; he set his phone on the sink, kicked off his pants, and stood hesitantly in front of the tub, unsure of how to proceed.

“Well?”

Percy made a confused face. “How do I get in without getting impaled by the faucet?”

Jason bit back a smile. (Gods, he laughed at Percy a _lot._ ) “Don’t you watch any romantic movies?” Too late, he realized he’d just revealed something mildly embarrassing about himself, although Percy didn’t seem too surprised (a fact that only made him stutter harder). “O-okay, so you just get in and kind of. Sit between my legs.” _Yeah Perce. Nothing really sexual about it._

Percy decided to pull an Annabeth on him and give the entire situation a calculated stare with a hand on his chin (not that Jason really minded the wait – there was a mostly naked ex-athlete standing in front of him. The view was worth the wait).

Plus, having the boy standing here gave him an opportunity to actually see the marks inked onto his legs – or just one leg, really, an explosion of water and flowers and a million other intricate details climbing Percy’s right leg, ending at the ankle where the tracker rested. He stared at it for a second.

“Okay,” Percy conceded, stepping in the water with one foot.

When he stopped to stare down, “Don’t look at the water.”

“What do I look at then?”

“Look at the shower curtain. Or me.” Percy fixed his gaze on the other person in the tub. “I changed my mind – look at the shower curtain.” Despite his words, the blond sat up a little so that he could guide Percy into the water by his arms.

When Percy sat with half his torso in the water, they stopped. “I’m not going any lower.”

“This much is fine,” Jason pulled Percy so that he would lean back into him a bit, and then allowed himself one mental cheer and checked ‘bath with the beau’ off his bucket list. They both sighed contently and Percy let his head lean back into the crook of Jason’s neck, his eyes closed.

“So,” Percy broke a prolonged silence. “Which romantic movies do you watch, Jason?” the blond groaned, but Percy wasn’t quite done yet. “Because I know you and Thalia probably don’t have the same tastes.”

“I don’t,” He took a breath. “I just sat by when my other girlfriends would want to watch them. Didn’t _you_ ever have to?”

Percy shrugged. “None of the girls I dated were into those. And my mom was a huge horror buff.” He shuddered. “So I was right? You watch them when you’re alone, don’t you?” When Jason didn’t reply, “You closet perv.”

“I am _not_.”

“I’m just kidding.” His hand came up to touch Jason’s face, pausing at the scar on his lip. “I never got to ask – did you get this on one of your old escapades?”

“Hah,” The blond laughed sarcastically. “No. I tried to eat a stapler when I was a baby.”

 _“Genius,”_ The smaller boy snorted. Sudden loud ringing jarred them out of their calming atmosphere. With his longer arms, Jason reached over to hand it to the boy in his lap. Percy frowned at the unknown number before picking up. “Hello? …speaking,” He paused. “Oh,” pause. “Wait, come again?”

Jason bit his lip – it was a good thing he’d told Percy to bring his phone.

 _“Oh_ my – okay, yes. Yes, thank you. You too. Okay, bye,” He nodded, and then stared down at the ‘recents’ screen of his phone. “Holy shit.”

“You got the part?”

The boy turned as best he could to look at the stage actor. “You _knew_?”

“I _had faith_ , man.” A beat later, he added, “And the director was giving you a look when you left.”

“This is crazy.”

“But it’s amazing, right?”

“You have – _we_ have rehearsal in an hour.”

 _“What_?” Jason tried to stand up too quickly and almost flipped them both face first into the water. “Wait, crap. We have to get ready, and eat, and _crap._ ” He lifted a complacent Percy out of the water and followed soon after. While the tub drained, Jason turned on the actual shower and pulled Percy back in.

“We’re going to get sick if we do things according to _your_ haphazard priorities.”

“Shut up and take a shower.”


	31. Trigger Warning

**Epilogue**

**Trigger Warning**

 

“I should probably tell you,” Percy pulled the scarf tighter around his other half's neck as they stepped out of the subway and into the graying streets. “It’s my birthday tomorrow.”

Jason choked on air. _“What?_ You’re telling me this _now_?”

The shorter boy shrugged. “I didn’t want you to do anything huge, which I guessed was probably a thing of yours.” The look he got from his companion confirmed his belief. “Anyway, we’ve got the _Book of Mormon_ tickets for tomorrow – it’s perfect.”

“So my Christmas present is taking up your birthday?”

“It’s nothing as dramatic as that,” He assured.

Jason pulled open his small ( _yes_ , walking cuddles) umbrella just a minute before the downpour began.

“And I’m actually glad – there won’t be any surprises for me to ‘look forward to’.”

“Don’t count on that,” Jason warned.

Percy made a mental note not to underestimate Jason, because the blond was just _one of those_ kinds of people, and bit his lip to fight back a chuckle. “Okay,” He replied slowly.

The shorter boy looked over them while they waited for the light to turn. His gaze stopped at the light blue scarf. “Are you going to wear that scarf all throughout the year?” He fingered the soft cloud print that they’d shared on numerous occasions. “Aren’t you hot?”

The blond unwrapped and rewrapped it to cover both of their necks. He never stated it out loud, but sharing his stuff with Percy was something he always, always, _always_ looked forward to. Especially if whey shared it _at the same time._  “It doesn’t really make you too hot, see?” The cloth was a little wide and covered Percy’s mouth and nose, giving him the appearance of an overly protected child. Jason rested a hand on the boy’s head, grinning when Percy didn’t swat it away.

The shorter boy  wrapped it more comfortable and then petted it softly. He was immersed in thought until they crossed the street. “You’re right,” Percy nodded, letting them share it. As they began to near their destination, the shorter boy’s pace grew slower and slower, until he stopped fully at the facility’s doors.

Jason put the umbrella away under the building's shelter. When his companion didn't move the entire time Jason used to get dry, the blond lightly touched a hand to Percy's cheek to get his attention. “Not getting cold feet, are you?” Percy’s lack of a reply was enough of one. “This is one of those ‘you just gotta face it’ kind of things.”

“I know.”

“The first step, and then the rest will follow.”

A soft exhale. “I know.” The quietness of his voice made him seem so much smaller than he actually was.

Jason bit the inside of his cheek, listening in at the sound of the others already inside the building, all waiting for them. “Leo, Nico, and Ms. Valdez also came. With food.”

Percy snorted, a good sign. “Are you trying to _bribe_ me now?” But the color didn’t return to his anxiously pale face. “I haven’t been to a pool in _years,_ Jason.”

“That’s years too long,” The blue eyed boy replied. “But we can always come back. You know that.”

“I know that.”

“Good.” Percy still didn’t budge.

After a moment of contemplation the blond wrapped arms around Percy’s waist, squeezing him in a tight, tight, tight and unexpected hug. Percy gave a squeak as all the air in his lungs vacated his body.

Just when he was allowed to resume breathing he was stopped again by Jason – still lifting him high up off the ground, but bringing him down in a fiercely aggressive kiss. The boy had to push up on his tiptoes to keep in contact with the blond, but most of the work was done by the larger boy anyway.

When he finally gave Percy the okay to breathe, he laughed, “That’s ten. Let’s do this, Jackson – I’ve already given you the trigger warning.” He kept the former swimmer in his arms, pulling him up so that he was held above Jason's head again.

Percy leaned his forehead against the blond’s and sighed into his face, closing his eyes. “Alright, Jason.” He smiled. “Alright.”

 

**_P_ **

 

“Did you bring it?” Jason leaned over and whispered into his older sister’s ear, both of them staring across the indoor pool at the bathroom Percy was changing in.

“Yeah,” She whispered back, pulling up a giant black portfolio bag drum under one of the side tables. It took a minute to unzip, and Jason had to admit he was surprised – she’d always hidden the canvas well whenever he came over to spend the night at her apartment, saying that she couldn’t show off her ‘big project’ just yet.

She slid the work out slowly, facing it their way so that no one could see it but them. Jason opened his mouth in a silent gasp.

Black, dark blue, dark green, and every murky color mixed at the top of the painting as what was clearly meant to be dark water. As it went lower down the canvas, the paint lightened and lightened, so that at the bottom of the tempestuous ocean there seemed to be a beautiful world with millions of lights and people. In the center was a blank white space with a sketched and re-sketched pencil drawing, as if she hadn’t finished.

“I’m working on that here,” She explained, and then bit her lip. “Do you,” She paused. “Think he’ll like it?”

Jason looked at her with wide eyebrows. Are you in _sane_? He will _worship_ it.”

She laughed at the seriousness in his voice and quickly slid it back into the portfolio bag as Percy made his way towards them.

The blond never really knew he had a thing about body worship before he actually was _worshipping_ all over the place. Percy was walking towards them, glaring at the water, in nothing but swimming tights, attracting the attention of every attendee with his body art. He seemed a little self conscious about his anklet at first – but no one noticed it when there was so much _more_ to look at.

The green eyed boy was so intensely engrossed in thought that he walked right into his companion. “Oh, sorry,” He quickly apologized, looking up. Halfway through the apology, the blond started grinning madly down at him, wiggling his brows. “What?”

“You ready?”

Percy made a face. “Do I _look_ like I’m ready?” Jason gave him a once-over and shrugged, earning a sigh. “Alright, just. Let’s do this.”

“Yeah, Percy!” Annabeth shouted from the side, prompting ‘whoop’s and applause from his friends. Artemis, who Percy had not seen in _years_ , had shown up for the event at a certain blond’s insistence. Her daughter, Calypso, remained glued to her elfish boyfriend’s side, both of them cheering for Percy with light in their eyes.

Beside them, although a little less conspicuous in their together-ness, sat Charles Beckendorf and Silena Beauregard (both of whom had flushed noticeably at the cheers upon their arrival _together_ ). Thalia had even invited Grover from group, who seemed happy just to meet more people. Jason found he liked the honest guy, before Percy had pulled him away. (“He’s the jealous type,” Thalia had muttered amusedly.)

“They all came to watch you,” Jason patted him on the back before stepping away so that Percy could climb up the diving board ladder. “Are you afraid of heights?”

Percy snorted. “Are _you_?”

“Nah,” He followed the shorter boy up, “Jumping off a bridge didn’t leave too much trauma.”

“Dude, you _need_ to stop dropping verbal bombs like that.”

“ _Dude_ , you do the same thing.”

Their heartfelt conversation was interrupted by a frustrated yell. “Don’t call the guy you’re sleeping with ‘dude’!” Thalia bellowed, earning a squeak from Leo’s mother, who quickly covered her younger son’s ears. Thalia shot her an apologetic smile.

Both boys stopped to stare at her for a moment, before Jason spoke much louder than necessary, “ _Dude_ , Percy, I'm executed for this jump. Are you,  _dude_?” He laughed as Percy snorted from two rungs up.

“Am I moving too slowly?”

“I don’t mind – the view’s great.” He grinned up at Percy, who peered down at him from between his legs. The blond was glad that swimming tights were so… _tight._  But after another minute of climbing, “Damn, how tall is this diving board?”

“I don’t know, but it’s... probably not the first one we should have gone on.” He pulled himself up to the actual board itself, the blond right behind him. It was only ten feet long, the end hanging out ominously in front of them. Percy chewed the inside of his cheek.

“Right behind you,” Jason assured quietly, touching Percy’s elbow.

“Okay,” Percy took a step forwards. “Okay, okay. Okay.” After another six times of repeating the word, he turned around and gripped the taller boy’s forearm. “Sorry about this,” He muttered, before running forwards and dragging them both off the edge.

Jason released some kind of startled war cry, separating with Percy on his way down and splashing dangerously close to the edge. He was easily able to pull himself up out of the water and breathe, the heartbeat deafening him strangely exhilarating.

He turned around to look for his other half where he landed in the center, but found the boy pulling himself up and out of the water right beside him. “Did you just swim that distance in _seconds_?” Jason had no time to gape; Percy was still trying to force his lungs to work, laying down on the edge with his feet dangling in the water. Jason tapped his thigh with his hand reassuringly. “You did good.”

That made the boy smile through his panting, his eyes swiveling down to match the grin aimed at the blond. “Good? I did fucking _amazing_.”

Jason grinned back. “Glad to see your sense of humor’s back.”

“I never lost it – you were just too dense to see it.” He used the bottom of his foot to kick the blond back into the water by his forehead before pulling himself up into a sitting position.

On the other side of the pool, the party waved happily, as if Percy had just accomplished some great feat. He rolled his eyes but waved back at them anyway (but only for little Nico Valdez).

Percy only had a short time in the spotlight alone before Jason pulled himself out of the water to sit beside him, nudging him slightly on the arm. Percy raised an amused eyebrow at him before shaking his head and staring at their legs.

Jason suddenly leaned into his space, clutching one of his wrists. “Do you have a fever?” He put his hand on a surprised Percy’s forehead, leaning so close his hot breath tickled the smaller boy’s nose.

Percy looked at him with speculation in his eyes, and the blue eyed boy quickly gave up the act.

“Yeah, I totally just did that to touch you.” He was still getting used to this – to touching the boy on his _own_ terms, while they were both conscious, while Percy wasn’t seeing it coming, while even Jason didn’t know he was going to initiate it before he actually _did._

Percy rolled his eyes and pulled Jason’s hand away from his forehead, instead using the larger wrist to tug the distance between them away. They intertwined their fingers, coming together in a spell of soft kisses.

“Smooth as fuck,” A voice whispered _dangerously_ close to their ears, effectively killing the mood.

Jason groaned and buried his head in Percy’s neck, which was slowly rising in temperature. “Thalia, get _out_ of my personal space.”

“Gods, Percy, have some decency. You might scar the Valdez kid.”

While forcing down the redness climbing up his cheeks, “Why do you smell like paint?” He raised an eyebrow at her and suddenly both Graces were very stiff.

She put her hands on her hips, staring down at them judgingly. “Keep it G-rated in the family environment, you rabbits. And you say you still haven’t slept with each other.” She shook her head and walked off, back to the other end of the pool, eager to get away from the conversation.

“Your sister needs a bell,” Percy muttered, eliciting a chuckle from the blond.

“That would be helpful,” Jason agreed.

They stayed in that position for a little bit – Percy leaning back on both hands, Jason beside him with his head leaning against the tanned boy’s neck. “Jason?” The blond hummed. “I’ve been in the loony bin of a juvy-jail for the two years I was ‘out of town’.”

A sharp exhale. The blue eyed boy didn’t speak for a long moment, before he pulled himself away and gave the smaller boy a look. “Who’s the one dropping verbal bombs, now?”

Percy sucked in his cheeks, and Jason felt like he just wanted to poke at them. “Since we’re trying to do this ‘face your fears’ thing, I figured the best time to tell you would be right now. At a party. In a public place. Where no one gets hurt.”

The blond rolled his eyes.

“I know it’s inconvenient, but—”

Jason covered the boy’s mouth with one hand. “You’re not inconvenient.” There was an odd sense of déjà vu in the statement, and it took Percy a moment to remember why. “I promise you that.”

“You’re promising me a lot of things.”

“Have I broken a single one yet?” The shorter boy didn’t answer. Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back like a model. Percy watched. “We still have, what, seven boxes to unpack? I think that’ll take a while, working through all those emotional bombs.”

“I was thinking we could just donate most of that stuff. Almost all of it.” He shrugged. “I don’t need most of it, anyway – it’s all of mom’s clothes and things.” He bit his lip. “I might keep a couple things, actually. Maybe.”

Jason nodded in understanding. “That sounds good.” After a moment, “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

Without missing a beat, “What’s this?” Jason pulled up Percy’s wrist, holding out the dark outline of an intricate butterfly. Percy stared at it for a second, not fully understanding. Before he could say something frustrating, like ‘it’s a goddamn butterfly’, Jason elaborated, “I mean, what’s it for?” It had no scar beneath it, nothing to hide.

It clicked in Percy’s mind. “Oh,” He breathed, staring down at the design. “It’s a, uh.” He rubbed the back of his head, a habit he’d stolen from the blond. “I used to swim, and, um. That was my best stroke.” When Jason looked at him, “The butterfly.”

The blond wanted to see it… but he wouldn’t force the boy just yet. “Annabeth bought Tyson a girlfriend over the weekend,” Jason informed.

Percy’s head snapped in his direction. _“What_?”

The blond chuckled – Leo officially owed him three hundred bucks. The waiter had been so ‘no way in hell’ about the thought of Percy being the ‘get away from my child’ type of parent that he had to place a bet on it, and had to lose. “Calm down – they’re being watched at all times.”

Percy didn’t calm down, but Annabeth came to her fellow blond’s aid when she bent down beside the two wet boys, holding her phone out in her hands. With a smile at Jason, she tilted the phone screen away so that only Percy could see.

It took three entire seconds for the boy to react. He grabbed at the phone but she wasn’t about to let him get his wet hands on it. “When – where–?”

“New Years’, while you were asleep.” She shrugged. “We told you that Jason carried you in.” The blond flushed, suddenly very aware of what it was they had been looking at. “Don’t be embarrassed, Jason, it was so romantic.” Pause. “Of course, not as romantic as the picture Percy keeps of you—”

“I am going to push you in the water.”

“Try it, Jackson,” She challenged. He didn’t. “Both of you are cute, either way. Percy, you know what Jason keeps in his wallet?”

Jason squeaked. “Why are you doing this?”

Percy leaned forwards, completely ignoring the stage actor. “What?”

“The front page of the New York Times New Years’ issue.” She bit the inside of her cheek, trying hard not to laugh at the two. “You two are the most romantic little boys, I just. I can’t take so much fluffiness at times.”

“Please go away now,” Percy muttered, scooting away from her and closer to Jason.

“Okay – I already got pictures of you two sitting together, so I think that’s enough.”

“Why are you taking so many pictures of us?” Jason interjected before she could escape.

“Because, _someone_ has to document this romance of epic proportions.” She looked between the two of them. “I mean, NY Times wrote about you. It’s time you started to think in the same way.” She gave an eyebrow wiggle and then joined her girlfriend in the Jacuzzi.

Percy and Jason sighed in unison.

Thalia waved them over just then, seemingly finished with whatever she had been working on.

The light pencil sketch from before had been replaced by full paint, the space in the center filled with the tan color of a figure. He was wearing swimming clothes and looked like he was jumping down from something, deep into the water below.

Had it not been for the ink, Jason would have thought it was just another one of her mental characters.

“I had to spend _hours_ on just drawing the figure. Could never get the details right, even though they were so small.” The water and light and _everything_ seemed to warp around the center figure, as if he was the one controlling the contrast.

“I wanted to capture you at your most open moment,” She told the shorter boy, nodding at the diving board. “When you jumped off – it gave me the exact perfect model I needed. So I just put that in and… there you have it.”

Jason asked a question, not wanting to interrupt Percy’s obvious wonder. “So, what are you going to call it?”

She thought for a second before shrugging. “I was thinking _Percy Jackson_ , but that might be a little too obvious.” Jason laughed. “I don’t know… maybe. Little boy blue? … _Little Boy in Blue_?” She actually seemed proud of herself. “I like that. I’m keeping it.”

The siblings looked over to the subject of the painting, who was still staring at the figure in the center. Thalia’s skills were phenomenal – even though they were so small, every tooth was visibly painted into his vibrant grin.

“This, is,” Percy crouched a little to look at the lower areas of the painting, completely fascinated. “absolutely _beautiful_.” Thalia beamed. “It’s amazing – are you sure you painted it all by yourself?”

“Mm-hm,” She nodded vigorously, rolling her eyes but too excited for sass at that early in the morning.

“Wow,” Percy whistled, and Jason looked at him like he was _so proud_ of him. Why, Percy didn’t know. “I love it,” Percy finally said, and gave her a hug. “It’s amazing.”

“You big softy,” She muttered, giving him a hug and then pushing him off her. “Go take a shower,” She ordered, turning to put the painting away.

“Hey, no,” Jason used the shorter boy’s wrist to stop and pull him into a half hug. “We only dove in once; there’s still so much to do while we’re at the pool.”

Percy actually looked like he’d been waiting for him to say that and for a second, the blond was proud himself. But only for a second. “Yeah, like making good on that promise?”

The taller boy frowned. “What promise?” He received an answer the moment Annabeth stepped over beside them wielding a bowl of “are those _dead snails?”_ His voice climbed up an octave at the sight, his nails digging into Percy’s wrist.

The pair looked like they were desperately trying not to laugh.

It took a moment for him to recall the memory that explained the monstrosity in the bowl. “Wait, wait, I thought we settled this with the pizza?”

“No falling back on promises,” Percy chided, slipping the blond’s hole from his wrist to his fingers. “We’ll compromise; if you eat one, just one, and look like you’re _really_ enjoying it, then I’ll,” His eyes fluttered over to the edge of the pool, “swim a lap.”

Jason probably should have told him not to force himself, that he didn’t have to, and probably _would have_ had he not been so surprised. “An entire lap?” was all that came out, and at Percy’s nod, he all but shoved the slimy ‘delicacy’ into his mouth.

Percy was going to swim. _Percy_ was going to _swim._

Just the thought helped him smile through the strangeness in his mouth, and he squeezed the suddenly quiet Percy’s hand.

Percy squeezed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank you enough for reading through to the end of this story. This was originally a request from a friend for a crack ship, and I thought it was pretty cute. But now IT IS MY LIFE.  
> Again, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
> 
> ~silktaildwarf


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